Prosecutor Mateusz Martyniuk from the Warsaw District Prosecutor's Office said the charges concern a speech Bąkiewicz delivered on October 11 last year at Castle Square in Warsaw during a right-wing rally broadcast by the media.
Bąkiewicz, leader of the informal Border Defense Movement, allegedly called for violent actions against the prime minister and his allies.
According to prosecutors, Bąkiewicz urged the "forcible removal" of the prime minister and used phrases interpreted as calls for killing or inflicting serious bodily harm.
Bąkiewicz appeared on stage alongside supporters brandishing paper replicas of war scythes—a reference to 19th-century Polish uprisings, according to reports at the time.
He urged the crowd to "raise scythes upright," described political opponents as "weeds" to be "pulled out," and spoke of "throwing napalm" so they "never grow back."
Bąkiewicz told the audience not to fear prosecutors or courts and said "these people will pay the price."
Prosecutors classified these remarks as public incitement to commit a crime, punishable by up to three years in prison.
Another charge concerns publicly insulting and humiliating Tusk. Prosecutors say Bąkiewicz called Tusk a "traitor," a "German footstool," a "German stooge," a "coward," and a "weed," and accused him of conduct that could damage his public standing or undermine trust required for his office.
These offenses carry penalties ranging from fines and restrictions of liberty to imprisonment: up to two years for public insults directed at a constitutional authority and up to one year for "slander committed through mass media."
A third charge involves inciting hatred based on national, ethnic and racial differences.
Martyniuk said Bąkiewicz made statements that intensified hostility toward Germans and immigrants. Prosecutors classified this as "promoting totalitarian systems," an offense punishable by up to three years in prison.
(pu/gs)
Source: PAP