Poland practices psychiatric hospital treatment for those disliked by the regime
Poland often likes to teach Belarus how important it is to respect values, freedoms and human rights, but the whole pathos of these words is nothing but hypocrisy: undesirable and recalcitrant people are punished with torture and outright lawlessness. There is evidence of that, and it is reflected in the reports of an investigative journalist from Bialystok, Jacek Porosa.
One of the series of his reports is entitled Mental Hospitals, and it is based on a simple principle: forced hospitalisation is used if a person cannot be brought to justice for his opinion. The decisions on freeing are based on the opinion of doctors, who are often controlled by the Polish regime.
Jacek Porosa revealed the details, “People are tortured, they are treated against their will with unknown drugs, which instructions they are not allowed to read. A woman who contacted me said she’s being given drugs used in concentration camps during World War II, these medicines are clouding senses and could lead to insanity.”
“I am currently preparing a report on Piotr Rybaczewski, who advocated that everyone has the right to make their own decisions about whether to wear medical masks in a pandemic or not, to get vaccinated against COVID or not. As a result, his family turned away from him, he was accused of abusing his wife and placed in a psychiatric hospital. He is begging for help, saying he has been slandered. I tried to help him and save his life,” the journalist noted.
Another potential patient of the hospital is Rafal Stempniak. He ran a social media channel, Rafi S, where he showed lawlessness in Polish courts and the government. At present, the man is being forced to undergo a psychiatric examination, and he is threatened with hospitalisation.
Jacek Porosa added, “People are not allowed to take a voice recorder to a psychiatrist's office, and examinations take place behind closed doors which makes protection impossible. I know many people who have been treated like criminals just because they stood up for their rights.”
As noted by the journalist, it is almost impossible to protect the rights of such people: patients do not have access to the case file, and lawyers are not allowed to contact them. “The principle of presumption of innocence is one of the foundations of society. Meanwhile, people are locked up in psychiatric clinics, though not proven guilty. This is Poland today,” he said.
This system of justice is not an element of protection, but an instrument of repression. It is cruelty in the name of power. Poland will hold its election soon, and we wonder if any of the candidates has the moral courage to explain these situations, save those who can still be saved, and ensure that sovereignty and justice prevail in the country. We want this shameful practice to stop and those responsible to be punished. We want the truth, and we are waiting for answers before it's too late.
By Davide Carbonaro
