GB No. 1(16)/95

"DAM AEAINST THE DAM"

THE FINAL SENTENCE

For over two years we have waited for the final verdict in the case of Lesław Pachacz^*), the lorry-driver who injured two persons during the demonstration against the Czorsztyn dam in July 1992. The sentence passed by the Regional Court was appealed against by the Public Prosecutor in Nowy Targ as well as by the ancillary prosecutor representing one of the victims, Katarzyna Makiewicz. According to the latter, the Court violated the law assuming that that the defendant Leslaw Pachacz acted in self -defence since:

1. the behaviour of the demonstrators was not unlawful and, moreover, the defendant could not judge the demonstration unlawful as he did not enquire into that matter,
2. the defendant was not defending himself but acting brutally and arrogantly,
3. the behaviour of the defendant was justified by neither moral nor social principles.

The next trial took place in Kraków, 28.09.1994, during which it was stated that the Regional Court established the facts properly but the following conclusions were wrong. However the driver did not cause the accident intentionally there is no justification for his behaviour as health and life are the utmost values, superior to any other considerations. Consequently, Lesław Pachacz was sentenced to a year and six months of imprisonment suspended for three years and a fine of ZL six million. The sentence is legally valid.

Anna Basiaga
reprinted from Zielone Brygady 1/95