Bąkiewicz did not receive permission to organize the regular Warsaw Uprising March

The Masovian Voivode has refused permission for the annual Warsaw Uprising March, announced Robert Bąkiewicz, representing the Independence March Rota association, on Friday. Bąkiewicz noted that the march on August 1st will go ahead anyway, as it is registered under a different procedure.

Bąkiewicz published a scan of the decision of the Masovian Voivode on the social networking site X.

The Independence March Rota Association submitted a request to organize a gathering on August 1st to commemorate the anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising, and on October 23rd, 2024. Organizers wanted the gathering to begin at 3:00 PM at Dmowski Roundabout in Warsaw. The march would then proceed along Aleje Jerozolimskie, through de Gaulle Roundabout, Nowy Świat, Krakowskie Przedmieście, and Miodowa Streets to Krasiński Square. The gathering was to end at 9:00 PM. The request to organize a recurring gathering covered the years 2025-2027.

The Masovian Voivode stated that "the entity organizing the gathering has not been identified over the past three years." In his decision, he noted that in such a situation, the Masovian Voivode is obligated to issue a negative decision.

The Masovian Voivode emphasized that Paweł Kryszczak organized the 2022 assembly "in the ordinary manner." He noted that only in 2023 and 2024 would the cyclical assembly be organized by the Independence March Rota Association, and that Bąkiewicz alone was authorized to represent it. The Masovian Voivode noted that Kryszczak chaired the cyclical assemblies on August 1, 2023, and 2024, but this does not mean that he thereby acquired the status of organizer.

In a post on the X portal, Bąkiewicz announced that despite the voivode's refusal, the Warsaw Uprising March on August 1st would go ahead. "We have a request registered under a different procedure," he wrote.

He noted that in 2022, the gathering had to be reported by an individual, not an association, because it had previously been "illegally blocked by Rafał Trzaskowski," a decision upheld by the Warsaw district and appellate courts. He emphasized that the Supreme Court found the cyclical gathering valid and functioning. "It wasn't us who interrupted the continuity—it was the unlawful actions of the authorities and courts that prevented us from doing so," Bąkiewicz wrote.

In June 2023, the Supreme Court repealed the decisions of the Warsaw courts not granting consent to grant the Warsaw Uprising March the status of a cyclical assembly and restored the voivode's decision granting this march such status.

The Independence March Rota (Rota Niepodległości March) received permission to hold a regular demonstration between 2022 and 2024, but Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski appealed the voivode's decision. The Warsaw District Court ruled that Rota should not have been granted permission to hold regular gatherings. The march organizers, the voivode, and the Warsaw Regional Prosecutor filed an appeal, but the Warsaw Court of Appeal dismissed all appeals in July 2022. Prosecutor General Zbigniew Ziobro then filed an extraordinary complaint with the Supreme Court in this case. (PAP)

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