Polish Sejm MPs from the opposition party Kukiz-15 Tomasz Zimkovsky and Bartosh Yuzhvyak demanded from the ruling party “Right and Justice” a direct answer to the question: which side it takes on the issue of amending the Polish legislation, providing for criminal punishment for denying the criminal role of Ukrainian nationalism.
In June 2016, the Kukiz-15 party submitted a project to the Sejm that required new functions for the Polish Institute of National Remembrance (INR), including the Commission for the Investigation of Crimes against the Polish People, the structural unit of the INR, in order to give them Powers to prosecute in the legal order those who deny the involvement of OUN-UPA and other Ukrainian nationalist groups in the genocide of the Polish population.
The penalty envisaged is a fine, and in the case of a second attempt to glorify Bandera and Shukhevych, restriction of freedom or imprisonment for a period of 3 years.
“The concealment of the truth and frivolous attitude towards this issue on the part of some politicians, publicists and pseudo-scientists is the humiliation of the Polish people”, Tomasz Zimkovsky said then.
The project passed two readings in the Sejm, but it couldn’t reach the third one from November 2016, and thanks to the efforts of the Chairman of the Sejm Mark Kuchchinsky, is still shelved.
“Are you on the side of the OUN-UPA or on the side of the Polish victims of this organization? Accept, in the end, our bill for discussion in the Sejm!” demanded Yuzhvyak, addressing the chairman of the parliament and members of the government.
Zhimkovsky supported Yuzhvyak: “Poland must unequivocally state that it won’t tolerate with the praise of Bandera. Instead, the ruling party keeps our project “in the table”. We appeal to all citizens together with us to bring pressure on “Right and Justice” politicians in this matter!”