Cross will stay in
parliament, Polish court rules
A court has ruled against seven members of a
Polish liberal party that sought to have a cross removed from the debating
chamber of Poland's parliament.
MPs from the anti-clerical Palikot's Movement
party had claimed that as atheists, the presence of a cross in the debating
chamber violated their rights to freedom of conscience and religion.
Anna Kubica, the barrister representing the group
(which included party leader Janusz Palikot) argued in court that the presence
of a cross favoured one religion, and that the cross itself was “neither a
universal symbol nor a symbol of the Polish nation.”
As cited by the Polish Press Agency (PAP), Kubica
stated that the hanging of the cross represented “the domination of one
religion, while democracy means the respect for minority rights.”
Nevertheless, Judge Alicja Fronczyk concluded that
“the presence of a religious symbol in a public place, such as parliament, does
not violate freedom of conscience.”
The judge added that the majority of the
population, as represented by parties in parliament, “does not believe that the
issue of the cross in parliament requires any kind of action.”
According to a poll conducted TNS OBOP in late
2011, 71 percent of respondents said that they were against the cross being
removed from the parliamentary building.
Armand Ryfinski, MP for Palikot's Movement,
commented following the verdict that the judge had come to “an entirely wrong”
conclusion that the majority can impose its will on the minority.
The MPs intend to appeal against the verdict.
A cross has hung above an entrance to the debating
chamber since 1997.
Palikot's Movement is
currently the third largest party in parliament, after winning a ten percent
share in the nation's vote in the 2010 general election.
Source: Polskie Radio S.A.
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