Polish writer faces three years in jail for calling the country’s president a ‘moron’ on Facebook
- Jakub Zulczyk said he had been charged for insulting President Andrzej Duda
- On November 7, Zulczyk commented on a Facebook post in which Duda congratulated US President Joe Biden on his successful campaign
- In the post, Duda – an ally of Donald Trump – said he was waiting for ‘the nomination by the Electoral College’
- Zulczyk commented on the post, calling Duda a ‘moron’ and pointing out that there was no such thing as a nomination by the Electoral College
A Polish writer is facing a possible prison sentence after calling President Andrzej Duda a ‘moron’ on Facebook.
Jakub Zulczyk said that prosecutors had charged him under an article in the criminal code for insulting the head of state over comments Duda made about US President Joe Biden‘s election victory.
‘I am, I suspect, the first writer in this country in a very long time to be tried for what he wrote,’ Zulczyk, who is the screenwriter behind the popular series Blinded by the Lights and Belfer, said in a Facebook post.
On November 7 last year, Zulczyk commented on a curiously worded tweet in which Duda congratulated Biden for his ‘successful presidential campaign’ but said he was waiting for ‘the nomination by the Electoral College’.
Duda, who is supported by the populist right-wing Law and Justice (Pis) party, was a close ally of Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump who unsuccessfully contested the election result.
Jakub Zulczyk (pictured) said that prosecutors had charged him under an article in the criminal code for insulting the head of state over comments Duda made about US President Joe Biden’s election victory
In his comment, Zulczyk said that ‘there is no such thing as ‘nomination by the Electoral College”, adding that Biden’s confirmation as US president was ‘a mere formality’.
‘Andrzej Duda is a moron’, he wrote.
Aleksandra Skrzyniarz, a spokeswoman for Warsaw district prosecutors, told Polish news agency PAP on Monday that charges had been filed against a man, naming him only as ‘Jakub Z’.
‘The defendant was accused of committing an act of public insult on 7 November last year on a social network website against the President of the Republic of Poland, by using a term commonly recognised as insulting,’ Skrzyniarz said.
![On November 7 last year, Zulczyk commented on a curiously worded tweet in which President Andrzej Duda (pictured) congratulated Biden for his 'successful presidential campaign' but said he was waiting for 'the nomination by the Electoral College' [File photo]](https://i1.wp.com/i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/03/23/10/40824516-9392515-image-a-33_1616493622765.jpg?resize=634%2C423&ssl=1)
On November 7 last year, Zulczyk commented on a curiously worded tweet in which President Andrzej Duda (pictured) congratulated Biden for his ‘successful presidential campaign’ but said he was waiting for ‘the nomination by the Electoral College’ [File photo]
She added that the charge had been filed earlier this month and that the suspect had been questioned but ‘did not admit to committing the alleged act and gave explanations.’
‘He indicated that the statement constituted a critical assessment of the president’s actions,’ she said.
Poland has been criticised repeatedly for its different insult laws, including one on offending religious feeling and another on insulting the flags of Poland or other countries.