Rafał Gaweł is the founder of the ''Racist and Xenophobic Behaviour Monitoring Centre'' ( pl, Ośrodek Monitorowania Zachowań Rasistowskich i Ksenofobicznych OMZRiK), a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

anti-racism Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and deliberate a ...

monitoring group. In 2019 Polish authorities sentenced him to a two-year prison term, however Gaweł was awarded temporary political asylum on 30 September 2020 in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The asylum was granted for three reasons: the lack of the possibility of a fair trial, the lack of Polish authorities' control of extreme-right militias, and the criminal case against him appearing to constitute political persecution by Polish authorities. It is the first time that a Polish person has been granted political asylum since the fall of Communism in the country.

Theatre and OMZRiK

Gaweł is known in

Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Białystok is located in the Białystok Up ...

, a city in Poland near the border with

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

, as the director of the ' ( pl, Teatr TrzyRzecze) and as the founder and head of the Centre for Monitoring Racist and Xenophobic Behaviour ( pl, Ośrodek Monitorowania Zachowań Rasistowskich i Ksenofobicznych OMZRiK), a

monitoring group. OMZRiK monitored crimes involving racist motives and submitted legal cases against them. In 2017, OMZRiK lodged 45 legal cases of this sort. Gaweł stated that the Prosecutor's office was unhappy to receive the complaints. One of OMZRiK's cases that achieved major media interest was related to a prosecutor, Dawid Roszkowski, who refused to carry out prosecutions for use of the

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. It ...

on the grounds of its use in Hinduism. Roszkowski's superior was fired. Roszkowski was later promoted to head of the South Białystok Prosecutor's Office.

Criminal case

In 2017, Gaweł and two colleagues were accused of major financial fraud in relation to ''ThreeRivers'' and OMZRiK, with claims that he had frauded a bank of and the

Stefan Batory Foundation The Stefan Batory Foundation ( pl, Fundacja im. Stefana Batorego) is an independent Polish non-government organization established by American financier and philanthropist, George Soros, along with a group of Polish opposition leaders of 1980s, and ...

of . Gaweł pleaded ''not guilty''. The Stefan Batory Foundation denied the claim that it had been frauded. In January 2019, Gaweł was sentenced to two years' prison, after having appealed an initial sentence of four years.

Political asylum

On 7 January 2019, Gaweł and his family fled for his safety to

, without a passport, and with help from "a diplomatic contact". He and his family were awarded political asylum on 30 September 2020 in

for three reasons: he had an unfair trial and was unlikely to obtain a

fair trial A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Types Variations of fairs incl ...

; Polish authorities did not prevent the activities of right-wing militias; and the criminal case against him appeared to be a case of political persecution by Polish authorities. Gaweł's lawyer, Łukasz Niedzielski, described Gaweł's situation as political persecution disguised as a criminal case. Gaweł's case is a rare case of asylum granted in Europe to a

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

(EU) citizen. One Pole was granted asylum in Norway in 2019, out of 18 EU citizens granted asylum in Norway during 2010–2019. Gaweł was given an initial refugee status for one year, which is renewable and convertible to permanent residency.

External links

OMZRiK website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gawel, Rafal Polish human rights activists Living people Refugees in Norway Polish dissidents Year of birth missing (living people) People from Białystok 20th-century births