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The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered the judgement in the case of Zabłocki v. Poland (31 May 2011, Application No. 10104/08), another decision concerning legal measures used in the Polish lustration proceedings. Once again, the Court found a violation of the right to a fair trial under Article 6 § 1 read in conjunction with Article 6 § 3 of the Convention.

On Wednesday, 8 June 2011, the Circuit Court in Poznań acquitted Łukasz Kasprowicz, the blogger charged with defaming the mayor of Mosina, a town near Poznań in western Poland. Mr. Kasprowicz was found not guilty on 13 of the 15 counts. The Court discontinued the proceedings regarding the remaining two counts, citing the negligible social harm presented by the alleged offences.

In May 2011, the Senate, the upper House of the Polish Parliament, discussed its amendments to the Family Support and Substitute Custody Act. Senators voted for the adoption of an amendment which bans homosexuals from acting as foster family and running family-type children’s homes. The HFHR intervened in this matter with Grzegorz Schetyna, Speaker of the lower House.

On Thursday, 2 June 2011, Anna Rucka, a journalist with the Przekrój weekly, was acquitted by the District Court in Zakopane. Ms Rucka was accused of disseminating false business information, a misdemeanour under the Polish unfair competition law. The case was conducted as part of the Observatory of the Freedom of Media in Poland Programme – the HFHR’s project.

The author of the AntyKomor-pl website posted critical and satirical remarks regarding the incumbent Polish President Bronisław Komorowski. In the early morning of 17 May 2011, officers of the Internal Security Agency (Agencja Bezpieczeństwa Wewnętrznego, ABW) searched the apartment of the website creator as part of an investigation into the allegation of a potential insult to the head of state.

On the evening of 4 June 2011, mayor of Warsaw-Ursynów district Piotr Guział hung a rainbow banner on the pole in front of the city hall. This event officially started the Diversity Week organized by this district. This rainbow flag is symbolic; it was put there by a local administration official and not by an NGO leader as a sign of civic disobedience. Its significance, however, is much broader.

According to the recent media reports the police officers were ordered to remove banners with ‘anti-government slogans’ held up by football fans protesting against the government’s decision to close certain stadiums. The HFHR is convinced that the presence of ‘anti-government slogans’ written on banners does not, on its own, authorise the law enforcement agencies to intervene in the protest.

Prosecutor Jerzy Mierzewski has been removed from investigating secret CIA prisons in Poland – currently, one of the most important case in Poland that may affect the political elites. The decision was unexpected and now serious concerns appear about the future of the investigation. The decision of removing Jerzy Mierzewski was very unexpected and surprising.

The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights presented its opinion on the Educational Information System Bill. The purpose of the is to create a system for acquiring data required to conduct educational policy and manage the education system. Also, the draft law provides for gathering personal data of pupils and pre-school children. The HFHR has voiced its concerns regarding the Bill.