Poles march in memory of man who self-immolated in protest

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November 6, 2017 7:15 PM

More than 1,000 Poles on Monday took part in a silent march in memory of Piotr Szczesny, who set himself on fire last month to protest the governing conservatives.

More than 1,000 Poles on Monday took part in a silent march in memory of

The silent demonstrators gathered in central Warsaw at the very spot where on October 19 Szczesny poured liquid on himself and then set it on fire while shouting "I protest". The 54-year-old died a week later.

"We will walk single-file, a line of ordinary people, a line of silent, upset people," an organiser said before the group set off on the march towards the headquarters of the governing Law and Justice (PiS) party.

Many people in the crowd had taped signs onto their clothes that read "an ordinary man, like you", a phrase taken from the two-page protest leaflet that Szczesny left at the scene of his self-immolation.

Organisers on Monday read out the leaflet, in which Szczesny had written: "I love freedom first and that is why I decided to self-immolate and I hope that my death will shake the consciences of many people."

He accused PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski of "having blood on his hands".

The leaflet also accused the PiS government of limiting civil rights, violating the constitution, and destroying the constitutional court and the independent judicial system.

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