“It’s not a pretty painting,” says Krzysztof Soroka, 35, as he pulls out the artwork protesting Poland’s strict abortion law. “But then it’s not a pretty subject.” The canvas in his hands shows ‘Christ on the cross being pushed, by a hand in a black sleeve, into the intimate areas of a woman’, in the words of the court in Szczecin.
Soroka is being prosecuted for this painting. The case was brought under the controversial Section 196 of the law on ‘insulting religious feelings’, which carries a fine or a maximum of two years in prison. One judge already acquitted him, but the Public Prosecution Service is not letting it go. The case will be appealed on Monday.
Article 196 is a notorious piece of Polish law. Anyone whose ‘religious feelings’ are hurt can appeal to them. The law is old and, according to critics, outdated. In recent years, however, it turned out to be very much alive in Poland, as witnessed by a small but constant stream of indictments and lawsuits based on this article.
Criticism of the church and the mixing of religion and politics has grown in Polish society, especially since the curtailment of abortion rights in 2020. Under Article 196, Catholic organizations are retaliating, aided by a Public Prosecutor’s Office close to the conservative government.
Little subtle
“I like to defend myself,” says Soroka, also known by his stage name “nokolor.” He stands next to a large easel, in a blue coat with paint stains. “But the case is bizarre.” Between the curtains, one black and one in rainbow colors, sunlight enters his cluttered studio. Clothes hang to dry in the midst of the spray cans and paint palettes.
Soroka works in his living room, which has also been his bedroom since March, because he took in two Ukrainian refugees. He looks at the painting again. He understands that it shocks people. “I wouldn’t show it to kids. But I’m still behind it.’
He painted it in a few hours, in response to the further curtailment of abortion rights in Poland in January 2021. ‘Dokąd’ (‘until where’) is written next to the body being violated with the cross, unmistakably by hand. of a cleric. At the time, the amendment of the abortion law sparked great anger and mass protests, including in Szczecin, a provincial town in northwestern Poland.
Plainclothes agents
Soroka took his painting to a protest on January 28, 2021. Shortly after the demonstration, he was stopped, two weeks later another officer showed up at his door. It turned out that Fidei Defensor, a local legal and Catholic association, had asked the prosecutor to work on the case. Since then, Soroka has gone through four hearings, two lawsuits, one acquittal and an appeal.
He could not have imagined that when he came back to live in Poland six years ago. Soroka was born in Szczecin, but moved to the Netherlands at the age of 7. He studied at the art academy in Rotterdam. ‘My Dutch is still better than my Polish.’ The Randstad was too busy for him, he longed for nature. ‘I also wanted to see and feel where I came from.’
Harassment
Article 196 is vague, which means that it is usually up to the judge to give substance to it. In 2021, the Polish ombudsman stated that the majority of cases would not even make it to court, if the Public Prosecution Service did a decent job. But in Poland, the Public Prosecution Service is on the lead of the far right Minister of Justice.
According to Piotr Paszkowski, Soroka’s lawyer, the purpose of these lawsuits is obvious: “It’s about intimidation.” The number of so-called ‘slapp’ cases, acronym for ‘strategic lawsuit against public participation’, is increasing in Poland, targeting activists and journalists.
Such cases are not about the verdict – they rarely lead to a conviction – but what precedes this: a lengthy procedure that takes up the time and financial resources of the accused (Soroka paid Paszkowski with a painting, by the way). Keep your head down or we’ll make your life a Kafkaesque hell, is the signal to the outside world.
hurting Christians
But according to Adam Surmacz, chairman of Fidei Defensor, it is a matter of principles. “Article 196 is a red line for us,” he says in his office. On the coffee cups there is the logo of the association: a cross. Fidei Defensor specializes in legal support regarding freedom of religion and conscience. It currently handles about 140 lawsuits.
A younger colleague of Surmacz testified against Soroka, claiming his religious feelings had been hurt. But the judge stated, among other things, that the painting is an ‘artistic provocation’, which falls under the freedom of expression. Surmacz is dissatisfied with the first verdict. “Many Christians have been hurt by this painting, I would like the court to recognize that.”
Fidei Defensor receives funding from the Ministry of Justice, and has close ties with local and national authorities. Yet Surmacz does not think that organizations like his have the upper hand. ‘Catholics in Poland are victims of hate speech. We fight against that.’ Artist Soroka denies being anti-religious. ‘I only have a problem with that when it gets political.’
Lawyer Paszkowski sees the appeal as sunny. ‘Then I’ll be acquitted’, says Soroka. “But not yet all those others who are being persecuted.” Despite the legal rollercoaster of the past two years, the artist is still cheerful. He shows a new painting, which he made especially for the trial. The Polish eagle hangs around a judge’s purple bandage and black gown, a symbol of the country and of justice. The eagle bites its own tail and eats itself.