Thousands march through Warsaw in protest against arrest of ex-ministers

#warsaw #poland
Thousands of opposition supporters gathered outside Poland's parliament on Thursday (January 11) to protest against the new government's changes to state media and the imprisonment of two former ministers convicted of abuse of power.

The march reflects mounting tensions in the country as the new pro-European Union coalition government led by Donald Tusk tries to undo the policies of the previous nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party administration.

A sea of red and white Polish flags stretched back from the parliament, interspersed with placards with slogans such as "Freedom of speech". Protesters also chanted "Free media!"

The demonstration came as President Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally, said on Thursday he had started proceedings to pardon the two ministers in the last government who were jailed this week for abuse of power, escalating his stand-off with the new government.

State-run news agency PAP cited Warsaw city hall as putting the number of people in the crowd at around 35,000, while a PiS spokesman put the figure at almost 200,000.