Each of the policemen is sorry that this type of situation occurred. We wish you health to the photojournalist – said Sylwester Marczak, spokesman of the Warsaw Police Headquarters in an interview with TVN24. – I guarantee that we are 100% sure that our target was hooligans, no one else – he assured. The Warsaw Police Commander, Chief Inspector Paweł Dobrodziej wrote in a statement that the police were explaining exactly the circumstances of shooting a photojournalist with a smoothbore gun. He added that coercive measures were used against hooligans, and in the case of the photojournalist it was an “unfortunate accident”.
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On Wednesday, during the march of nationalists in Warsaw, there were riots. Clashes with the police took place, among others, in the area of the de Gaulle roundabout. The Metropolitan Police Headquarters reported that “groups of hooligans attacked policemen protecting the safety of other people”. Compact units started to operate, using direct coercion measures – tear gas and smoothbore weapons.
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Tysol.pl portal. later reported that photojournalist of “Tygodnik Solidarność” Tomasz Gutry, “was shot” during the march. “According to the account of Tomasz Gutry (…) a policeman was supposed to shoot him from a few meters. A rubber bullet lodged in the face of (…) the photojournalist” – the portal wrote.
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Photojournalist Tomasz Gutry shot during riotsJędrzej Nowicki / Agencja Gazeta
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“Each of the policemen is sorry that this type of situation occurred”
The spokesman of the Warsaw Police Headquarters, Commissioner Sylwester Marczak, said on Thursday morning in an interview with TVN24 that the police regretted this situation very much. – The commander, as well as each of the policemen, is sorry that this type of situation occurred. We wish you health to the photojournalist – he noted.
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But – as he added – “let’s also remember why the police operated there, what were the circumstances”. – At that moment, there was a real threat to the life and health of policemen in that place. One of these policemen has a craniofacial injury, a ruptured eye socket, and a left eye muscle injury. This shows that we are dealing with unusual brutalization by people who attack the policemen – he said.
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– In this case, our goal of action, when the life and health of policemen is at risk, is primarily to repel the attack by hooligans – he added.
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As he said, “there cannot be a situation where anyone on this line between policemen and aggressive people is found”. – Unfortunately, there was such a situation here – he said.
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“I guarantee that our target was hooligans, no one else”
– I guarantee that we are one hundred percent sure that our target was hooligans, no one else – he assured.
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– In this case, we are just sorry, because we are dealing with a huge misfortune, but there should be no one on this line at this point. The police operated there, and there were strong direct coercive measures applied by policemen. Each person should leave this place immediately, and not stay until the very end – said Commissioner Marczak.
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“Unfortunate accident”
On Wednesday night, the Warsaw Police Commander, Chief Inspector Paweł Dobrodziej, issued a statement regarding the use of smoothbore weapons against hooligans during the Independence March.
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“Unfortunately, the injuries suffered by one of the photojournalists are very serious. In human terms, I am very sorry. I hope for a quick recovery of Mr. Tomasz. We will explain the circumstances of this situation in detail. Just like we will explain any other doubts. That is why I have already given the order, for the Audit Department to deal with the matter.
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He assured that “smoothbore weapons were used against hooligans, and here we were dealing with an unfortunate accident”.
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Dobrodziej wrote that the Independence Day is a special day, but “unfortunately, among the people who took to the street, there were also hooligans who destroyed this celebration”.
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Clashes between the police and the participants of the marchPAP
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On the march “a real threat to the life and health of policemen”
The commander of the Warsaw police indicated that the most dramatic events were in the vicinity of the de Gaulle roundabout. “In this case, we were dealing with brutal aggression, which was directed both at the property and at the policemen. With this type of action, it is necessary to decide. Hence the actions of both compact subunits, but also of the plain-clothes policemen” – he wrote.
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These events – wrote the commander – “should be defined as a real threat to the life and health of policemen”.
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“Facial injuries, orbital ruptures and left eye muscle injuries were suffered near the roundabout by one of the intervening policemen, who is still in the hospital. It is not surprising, therefore, that in individual cases the policemen also used a smoothbore weapon” – said Dobrodziej.
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He emphasized that “the purpose of the policemen’s actions in compact subunits is to restore order and order”.
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“Apart from us, the center of events is always the journalists with whom we cooperate, ensuring their safety as well. During dynamic activities, when we have numerous hooligan acts, unfortunately, there may be a situation in which bystanders may also be injured. Even after the use of direct coercion measures. That is why it is so important to leave the place of our operations, for your own safety, “wrote Superintendent Dobrodziej.
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Clashes with the police on the march in WarsawPAP / Wojciech Olkuśnik
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The Ministry of Interior and Administration declares “all assistance for Mr. Editor Gutry”
Earlier, on Wednesday, Deputy Interior Minister Błażej Poboży announced that the Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration Mariusz Kamiński had talked about the wounded photojournalist with the chairman of “Solidarity” Piotr Duda, and the deputy head of the Ministry of Interior and Administration Maciej Wąsik with the editor-in-chief of Tygodnik Solidarność.
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Poboży declared “all help for Mr. Editor Guthry” and assured of “a thorough explanation of the whole situation that should not have happened”. Poboży, referring to the head of the Ministry of Interior and Administration, also said that an investigation by the police had already been initiated in the case of Gutry.
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