WARSAW, Poland (AP) – Thousands of Poles in cities and towns across the country marched Saturday in freezing temperatures to protest a slew of measures by the country’s new right-wing government which they say are anti-democratic.
The motto of the marches, the most recent of several that have taken place since Law and Justice took power in November, was “in defense of your freedom.”
Protesters are furious about government steps which they fear limit checks and balances on the party, which has a majority in parliament and also controls the presidency. Soon after taking power, Law and Justice took steps to curb the power of the Constitutional Tribunal, increased government control over state media, and widened the scope for police surveillance.
Protesters in Warsaw shouted “democracy!” and many carried Polish and European Union flags.
“We want to keep our democracy and freedom,” Mateusz Kijowski, leader of the Committee for the Defense of Democracy, the group that has organized the recent protests, told the crowd in Warsaw. “In Poland, we now have one center of power. There is no possibility of control, of verification, and this threatens our freedom.”