Liberals protest against closure of Le Madame

WARSAW Yesterday evenings demonstration against the enforced closure of Le Madame club building, which also housed the Polish Green Party, was declared a big political success by organisers today.

Almost 1,000 turned up in Plac Bankowy, including a number of well-known political figures and actors, for what was to be a peaceful, but noisy, protest.

First to speak was feminist Kazimiera Szczuka, of Zieloni 2004 (the Polish Green Party) and a TV personality. The Green Partys headquarters were in the same building as Le Madame and have also been closed by the authorities.

Then came and Piotr Najsztub, another television personality. He is also director general of the mazagine Przekrj.

Magda Mosiewicz, chair woman of Polish Green Party, also spoke, along with others from the world of politics.

They included Magda Środa, the former minister of Equal Status of Men and Woman in last government; Professor Maria Szyszkowska, former MP and a Nobel Peace Prize candidate; and Andrzej Celinski, the former Social Democrat MP. Celinski is currently an aide to Marek Borowski who is a leading candidate for the position of Mayor of Warsaw.

Le Madame, a gay club that doubles as a political and arts centre in Warsaw's Old Town, was ordered closed two weeks ago by the building owners, the ultra right-wing Law and Justice Party which now controls Poland through both the presidency and the parliament.

Police had to be called to the building a week ago to evict around 50 people who refused to leave the building. There were ugly scenes during the police eviction and claims of police brutality.

Video of the brutality was screened during yesterday's demonstration.

European Union Greens are outraged at the Polish authorities in closing Le Madame and it's political party's office.

The alleged reasons for the evacuation, that the City of Warsaw, which is the owner of the building, needs the venue for a commercial passage is a flimsy excuse, EU Greens said in a statement issued in Brussels.

In fact, the club has been closed because the right-wing government in Poland wanted to shut down this meeting point for civil society where artists, political activists, homosexuals, feminists, and globalisation critics met in short, all the people the current right-wing government detests.

We also protest against the closure of the Green party headquarters, located in the same building.

This action was a further move by the right-wing government to suppress opposition and minorities, which began with the banning of the gay pride demonstration in Warsaw in June last year and led to the violent suppression of a civil society demonstration in Poznan in November 2005. All these actions are a clear violation of EU fundamental human rights.

We call upon the Warsaw authorities to immediately reopen the Club "Le Madame" and the Green party HQ at the same venue, to support civil society activities and to respect human rights according to European values, the statement concludes.