The Court of Appeals in Lublin today postponed the verdict in the case of Pastor Pawel Chojecki, editor-in-chief of the Go Against the Tide TV station, in his trial for words including those insulting the religious feelings of Catholics. The verdict is expected to be announced on June 5 at 1:00 p.m. The court did not take into account the fact that Pastor Chojecki has a planned evangelistic trip abroad to the United States at the time. After the hearing, the pastor spoke about his dream: “My dream and plan is that on the basis of my trial […] a socio-political movement will be created for all people who understand freedom […]. We want everyone […] to be able to speak freely about their beliefs, to also be able to criticize my views as they wish. We are going for freedom!”

(english subtitles)

After the hearing, Pastor Chojecki prayed for a while with those who had gathered in great numbers to support him. Many people had T-shirts with signs expressing support for the pastor and banners about freedom. There was also singing and praising God together. Go Against the Tide TV covered the events outside the court live the entire time.

Among the guests on the program were MP Artur Dziambor and MP Pawel Szramka. Both expressed support for the pastor and their belief that he should be acquitted.

“I hope that Pastor Chojecki will be acquitted. I promise that I will strive to ensure that the article that talks about insulting religious feelings [Article 196 of the Penal Code]and other articles about state intervention where there is a civil sphere, to be deleted from Polish law,” said MP Dziambor.

MP Szramka, head of the Good Move party, also spoke about an MP interpellation submitted to the Minister of Justice, in which, among other things, he describes the case of Pastor Chojecki and notes the need to at least relax some of the laws.

In a brief speech after the trial, Pastor Chojecki commented:

“I will not be at the announcement of the verdict. But I hope you will be! […] What the Law and Justice prosecution has done is a disgrace, a crime. […] No more pastor for the next dozen years will be able to boldly speak the truth about superstition, about darkness, about religious abuse […], because he will know that the prosecutor’s office […] can do such wickedness. This cannot be undone. But it can be covered – in two ways. The first is a just verdict. The second is something more – we want to see a free Poland! We want everyone: atheist, Buddhist, Catholic, Orthodox Jehovah’s Witness, Protestant, everyone – to be able to speak freely about their beliefs, to be able to criticize also my views as they wish. […] We are going for freedom!”

“My dream and plan is that on the basis of my process […] there will be a socio-political movement for all people who understand freedom, freedom not only for themselves […]. I think that this process has triggered in every decent person some mechanism of disagreement: “I may not like what he says, I may not agree with him, he may have exaggerated or offended me in places – but what they did to him is a disgrace.” – said Pastor Pavel Chojecki after leaving the court.

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Closing statements were delivered in court today. The defenders pointed out the irregularities of the legal aspects of the prosecution and the court of first instance, and stressed that Pastor Chojecki’s trial is the trial of a representative of a religious minority accused for what he preaches. Thus, it also has the dimension of shaping how a religious minority is treated in Poland.

Let’s recall some facts about the trial

The pastor of the New Covenant Church in Lublin and editor-in-chief of the Go Against the Tide TV is on trial for words uttered during sermons and in programs aired on the television he’d founded. The prosecutor’s office accused him of insulting the religious feelings of Catholics, insulting Catholic objects of religious reverence, praising the initiation of a forward war against communist North Korea, and insulting the Polish Nation and the President of Poland.

The pastor addressed all charges in a special statement issued at the beginning of the trial.

The court of first instance sentenced Pastor Chojecki to eight months of restriction of liberty in the form of community service and ordered him to pay legal costs of nearly PLN 21,000. Four appeals have been filed to the verdict. In Pastor Chojecki’s defense, the law firm of legal counsel Adam Wroblewski, the law firm of attorney Andrzej Sawicki and the law firm of attorney Andrzej Turczyn filed an appeal. Prosecutor Katarzyna Urban also filed an appeal, seeking a prison sentence.

“The haters pounced on us when our TV started reaching the street people,” “my church is being hounded,” “the haters and the prosecution have tarnished my good name!” – Pastor Pawel Chojecki said yesterday in the closing speech at his trial. The Court of Appeals in Lublin has postponed the verdict in the case of Pastor Chojecki, editor-in-chief of Go Against the Tide TV. The verdict is expected to be announced on June 5 at 1 p.m. The pastor is on trial for words uttered during sermons and in programs aired on the TV station he’d founded. Among other things, the prosecution has accused him of insulting the religious feelings of Catholics by, for example, calling the Fatima apparition a “phantom.” During yesterday’s fourth session of the Court of Appeals, the closing speeches were delivered. We present Pastor Pavel Chojecki’s speech in its entirety.

Pastor Pawel Chojecki’s closing speech

Your Honor, I was rather silent in the courtroom for most of this trial. The very fact that the prosecutor’s office of the Republic of Poland is dragging a pastor of repute through the courts – and at the age of over 60, I was reaching 60 at the time – is a huge insult to me, to my church and to all Protestants in Poland. We do not accept such treatment of religious minorities.

I didn’t go to any other church to destroy any objects of worship or anything else, I didn’t interrupt anyone’s religious activities. I said what I am obligated to do by the Word of God in my Protestant church and on Protestant television.

The Constitution of the Republic guarantees my freedom of speech, and the role of the organs of justice, the judiciary, is to protect the wronged. Therefore, I want your Honor to know that in this case it is not these people who are wronged – it is my church that is wronged, it is my church that is being dishonored by them. At every public meeting we have, their representatives distribute “dangerous sect” leaflets. They pour fecal matter on [our church headquarters], Mr. Bieganowski was accused of this. They harass a police officer who belongs to our church at his workplace, saying that he is a dangerous person because he belongs to a sect. The auxiliary accuser Bieganowski was prosecuted in this case. The prosecutor’s office hopefully knows about all this. And yet I am the one sitting as a criminal on the defendant’s bench.

Please understand, Your Honor, my emotions. My only crime in life is a couple of traffic fines. I have a good reputation, which is necessary for my profession, as does the High Court. And these people and the prosecutor’s office have tarnished my good name! How can I remain silent! What is going on here is a denial of justice, because they are the ones who turned people against me, they even did it to my grandson, calling him “the son of Beelzebub.” Those who are sitting here threatened me with death. My daughters, they threatened in public to pour acid on them. The address of my residence was pointed out. Where is one of these victims? He even came, when we changed our address, to film where we live, and put it on the Internet, which is a crime, a violation of home privacy. This is how we have been honored for years. It’s us, a religious minority, Protestants in Poland… Pastors said how many bricks they take out of their church buildings.

Never, in my wildest expectations – even knowing that the Polish state is not a state of just, after ’89 – it never even occurred to me that I would sit on the bench of the accused like a criminal, for serving Christ faithfully. So saying that I offended any of these people is a mockery of justice.

As far as my words are concerned, Your Honor can see our television, in which we host Catholic professors, ordinary Catholics, there was even a Catholic bishop with us. And with all of them we talk in the spirit of civic respect, everyone is happy, etc. But please note, as was raised by Counselor Wroblewski, the haters pounced on us when our TV started reaching out to the street people – not to professors, not to theologians. I delivered to the High Court a letter of a murderer, sent from prison. Nothing appealed to him. He read books. He listened to various sermons, there was a pastor in court. But he turned on Go Against the Tide TV and Pastor Chojecki – and it changed his life. The High Court has it on file. I speak to such people. And that I said “fart”? That I said “phantom”? That I said “dung”, quoting the apostle Paul? That is my crime! No honest person  would agree with this.

And on the most important issue. We are talking about religion. I think it is God who is the object of religion and worship of Protestants as well as Catholics, Orthodox, etc. Please point out to me one sentence, one word, where I said something against God. As for my intentions, I’m not going to prove them, because my whole life is proof of my intentions. Jesus said: “Are you unable to judge? Judge by the fruits.” See how he lived his life, how he raised his children. Three of my children, university and postgraduate studies, a doctor sits here, a researcher at UMCS. This is my achievement. My personal one. I already have grandchildren. And please see what is happening before the court. Are they criminals, haters, people who attack someone? This is the fruit of my service to Jesus, because of which I am sitting here. Thank you.

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SEE PASTOR CHOJECKI’S CLOSING SPEECH (ENGLISH SUBTITLES):

The trial of Pastor Pawel Chojecki is coming to a close. On Monday, May 22, at 12:30 p.m., another hearing will be held before the Court of Appeals in Lublin. This may be the last hearing, and there will be no further possibility of appeal from the verdict in Poland. The pastor of the New Covenant Church in Lublin and editor-in-chief of Go Against the Tide TV is on trial for words spoken during sermons and statements on the TV station he founded. Will the pastor be convicted for his words and views, or will the court respect the Polish citizen’s right to freedom of speech and freedom of religion? This case is an important measure of democracy in Poland. We encourage media representatives and all interested parties to get involved in reporting on Pastor Chojecki’s trial and to come to the hearing in person. We also invite you to a protest happening that will take place on May 22 in front of the Lublin Court of Appeals building.

Lublin Court of Appeals
II Criminal Division
Obrońców Pokoju St. 1
20-950 Lublin

The previous hearing in the trial of Pastor Pavel Chojecki was held on April 13. When the pastor left the court, he said:

„Protestants in Poland are threatened with such trials for speaking the truth about Jesus. This must stop! We are going for freedom!”

SEE REPORT ON THE TESTIMONY OF THREE PASTORS IN THE TRIAL OF ED. CHOJECKI (ENGLISH SUBTITLES):

On April 13, three pastors called as witnesses testified: pastor Henryk Skrzypkowski, member of the Presidium of the Baptist Church Council, pastor of the Baptist church in Chelm, pastor Ireneusz Dawidowicz of the Baptist church in Bialystok, psychologist, vice-president of the „Toward Good Hope” Association, as well a former priest Jerzy, retired pastor of a home church. All of them showed that Pastor Chojecki’s words fit into the accepted framework of pastoral activity and the freedom of religion in force in Poland.

A great many people gathered to support the pastor – not only in the courtroom, but also in front of the court building. Support for the pastor was expressed in slogans such as: „Freedom of speech for everyone,” „Support Pastor Chojecki,” and „We are going for freedom” placed on T-shirts and banners.

Pastor Pavel Chojecki, in a brief speech after leaving the court, said:

„The three pastors today had the opportunity to present the gospel of free salvation, show the superstition and darkness in our nation, show the errors and lead people to the truth of God’s word. This has begun. […] My only „crime” is that I have succeeded in preaching the gospel in Poland. And for this „crime” – if Poland considers it a crime – I am ready to suffer any consequences. I hope you are ready too.”

The gathered audience responded with loud applause.

The pastor of the New Covenant Church in Lublin is on trial for words – a few sentences from sermons and other programs aired on the web TV he runs – that a group of haters and the Law and Justice prosecutor’s office did not like. He was charged with insulting the religious feelings of Catholics, insulting Catholic objects of religious reverence, praising the initiation of a forward war against communist North Korea, and insulting the Polish Nation and the President of Poland.

Recall that the court of first instance sentenced Pastor Chojecki to eight months of restriction of liberty in the form of community service. In addition, the pastor would have to pay legal costs of nearly PLN 21,000. Four appeals have been filed to the verdict. In Pastor Chojecki’s defense, the law firm of legal counsel Adam Wroblewski, the law firm of attorney Andrzej Sawicki and the law firm of attorney Andrzej Turczyn filed an appeal. Prosecutor Katarzyna Urban also filed an appeal, seeking a prison sentence.