Former Polish Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński told a 10-year-old journalist that freedom of speech does not apply to children, POLITICO reports.
Jarosław Kaczyński, the President of the Law and Justice Party (PiS), sidestepped a question about abortion from 10-year-old parliamentary correspondent Małecka-Trzaskoś, telling her she was too young to exercise freedom of speech.
Sara Małecka-Trzaskoś runs the channel on the TikTok platform “Sara’s Perspective” and records short conversations with politicians during parliamentary sessions. Her films have featured, among others, Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Deputies Szymon Hołownia and Krzysztof Bosak. The next person to appear was to be PiS President Kaczyński.
At that time, the PiS head was surrounded by journalists and answered questions concerning, in particular, the Law on Decriminalisation of Abortion. Małecka-Trzaskoś approached the crowd of reporters, but had no time to say a word before Kaczyński told her that “this is not a matter for children, so, my dear… go away.” The girl replied she had the right to ask questions and had freedom of speech, but Kaczyński said: “But freedom of speech is not for children. Seriously, go away.”
She later commented on the situation: “I felt a little offended. I would ask him why he thinks that, why freedom of speech is not for children,” Małecka-Trzaskoś told Polish news portal Onet. “For me, freedom of speech is the most important thing.”
The recording of the whole episode hit the web and sparked a number of different comments, according to Polish media. A large part of the audience disagreed with the attitude of the politician, who, in their opinion, behaved in an inelegant manner towards the child. Some noted that none of the reporters present stood up for the girl when the politician spoke to the girl in a rude manner. Others, in turn, suggested that it was wrong to involve a 10-year-old child in discussions about abortion.
Making parliamentary statements at Friday’s Sejm session, Marcin Józefaciuk commented on the PiS president’s behaviour, saying that within a few days he would submit a request to the parliamentary ethics committee to punish Kaczyński for insulting the dignity of a child, a girl and an accredited journalist.
It is noteworthy that the PiS party, which ruled the country for eight years until it lost power in elections last October, has tightened the rules on abortion in Poland, almost completely banning it in 2020. In turn, the new Polish government, led by Donald Tusk, is trying to steer the country’s laws in a more liberal direction.
