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Last update - 22:22 13/06/2008
Polish priest accused of anti-Semitic remarks won't be prosecuted
By The Associated Press
Tags: Warsaw, priest, Jewish 

WARSAW, Poland - Polish prosecutors have decided not to charge a Roman Catholic priest accused of making anti-Semitic comments, and the country's Jewish community on Friday called the decision a setback.

The Warsaw-based Jewish community accused the Rev. Tadeusz Rydzyk of calling Jews greedy and saying that his country's president was subservient to Jewish lobbyists. A recording of the purported remarks surfaced last year.

The group had asked prosecutors in the city of Torun to bring criminal charges against the priest. But prosecutors said in a statement Thursday that they would not pursue the case due to what they said was a lack of evidence of wrongdoing. They refused any further comment.
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Piotr Kadlcik, president of the Union of Jewish Religious communities, expressed disappointment at the prosecutors' decision, calling it a lost chance for the Polish state to firmly show that anti-Semitism would not be tolerated.

Rydzyk has frequently been accused of fomenting anti-Semitism through his politically influential, ultra-Catholic radio station, Radio Maryja. He has rejected accusations of anti-Semitism and said that the recording was doctored.

The group says Rydzyk made the remarks in April 2007 during a lecture at a journalism school in Torun. A recording of the speech was obtained by weekly magazine Wprost and published widely in the media, sparking outrage among Israelis and Jewish groups.

The recording includes statements critical of President Lech Kaczynski's role in the awarding of state compensation - some of it to Jews - for property nationalized by the post-World War II communist government.

Other statements on the recording target the president for donating land for a future Jewish museum during his previous job as Warsaw mayor and accuse him of bowing to pressure from Jewish groups.

You know that it's about Poland giving 65 billion dollars to the Jews, the recording, purportedly of Rydzyk, says. They will come to you and say: give me your coat. Take off your pants. Give me your shoes.

The Israeli ambassador to Poland, David Peleg, called it the worst case of anti-Jewish language Poland has seen since an anti-Semitic campaign in 1968.

Rydzyk did not deny giving the speech, but said the tapes were doctored - without specifying which parts of his speech might have been altered. He also rejected accusations of anti-Semitism and said he didn't intend to offend anyone.

Rydzyk was also accused of referring to the leading Polish daily, Gazeta Wyborcza, whose founder, Adam Michnik, has Jewish roots, as a Talmudic publication.

Prosecutors had previously decided against investigating Rydzyk over the alleged remarks last August after earlier complaints.

Related articles:
  • Radical Polish priest issues apology for anti-Semitic remarks
  • Anti-Defamation League demands Pope denounce anti-Semitic Polish priest
  • Polish police analyze tapes of alleged anti-Semitic comments by priest
  • European Union will not fund Polish college with anti-Semitic ties
  • Hundreds in Poland condemn priest's words as anti-Semitic
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      1.   Polish anti-Semitic speech 22:58  |  Miriam 13/06/08
      2.   Why is it criminal to make "anti-semitic remarks?" 23:19  |  hollingsworth 13/06/08
      3.   clerical privilege 23:54  |  potobac 13/06/08
      4.   Hollingsworth you need to go back to school to answer 00:13  |  steve-NYC 14/06/08
      5.   HOLLINGSWORTH 00:17  |  JOJO 14/06/08
      6.   wow, after reading the first two responses... 00:39  |  michal 14/06/08
      7.   Christianity teaches anti-Semitism 01:44  |  George Jochnowitz 14/06/08
      8.   JOJO 01:50  |  hollingsworth 14/06/08
      9.   instead of anti-semitism accusation, can you present arguments 02:03  |  Historian 14/06/08
      10.   Who are the true victims of antisemitism and war crimes? 02:08  |  Historian 14/06/08
      11.   Lousy reporting 02:25  |  Axel 14/06/08
      12.   Priest or not this hate is in the Polish blood 03:19  |  Connie 14/06/08
      13.   #7 Jochnowitz : Judaism teaches about superiority of theJews ... 03:25  |  American 14/06/08
      14.   helping historian 03:30  |  SG 14/06/08
      15.   HOLLINGWORTH 04:23  |  JOJO 14/06/08
      16.   HISTORIAN: U AIN`T ONE 04:26  |  JOE 14/06/08
      17.   We Should Not Prosecute People for Engaging in Free Speech 04:50  |  MIKE 14/06/08
      18.   As IF GERNMAN ANTISEMITISM WAS NOT THE 04:51  |  JOJO 14/06/08
      19.   Dear Connie (#12): Exactly what is the difference between you 05:30  |  Jozef 14/06/08
      20.   #7 & #12 - Response 05:47  |  Jolanta Rybczynska 14/06/08
      21.   same as your rabbis 06:39  |  Denise 14/06/08
      22.   same as your rabbis 06:39  |  Denise 14/06/08
      23.   same as your rabbis 06:39  |  Denise 14/06/08
      24.   Should be grateful 09:48  |  Miriam 14/06/08
      25.   T. Rydzyk and Haaretz 10:29  |  as 14/06/08
      26.   Why Jews special 10:39  |  Dav 14/06/08
      27.   Jews should not live in Poland 11:02  |  sweis Melbourne 14/06/08
      28.   Denise 11:05  |  sweis Melbourne 14/06/08
      29.   Prosecuted for being a Biggot???? 11:17  |  B`Galil 14/06/08
      30.   Polish priest 12:05  |  Gisela 14/06/08
      31.   Hollingsworth 12:07  |  Ehud 14/06/08
      32.   POLES ARE THE DREGS OF HUMANITY. 14:29  |  petra 14/06/08
      33.   # 30 GISELA YES AND WE CAN CHANGE THAT. 14:35  |  petra 14/06/08
      34.   Jolanta 14:36  |  Ehud 14/06/08
      35.   Silence is golden 14:39  |  Arie 14/06/08
      36.   jochnowitz re the christian bible 15:33  |  potobac 14/06/08
      37.   Poles are the dregs of humanity 15:35  |  hollingsworth 14/06/08
      38.   Dregs of humanity 16:42  |  reader 14/06/08
      39.   #30 Gisela 16:43  |  Polycrates 14/06/08
      40.   # 20, Jolanta Rybczynska, Your quotes are a freudulant statents 18:08  |  Max Bat Yami 14/06/08
      41.   #11 Axel, There are Laws Agianst hate and Criminal 18:19  |  Haham me Bat Yam 14/06/08
      42.   Dumb 19:41  |  JR 14/06/08
      43.   jr 34 21:15  |  potobac 14/06/08
      44.   Connie - you have a great nickname 21:16  |  Justine 14/06/08
      45.   to sWeis Melbourne - ever heard of Goldstein? 21:34  |  Justine 14/06/08
      46.   justine 37 23:27  |  potobac 14/06/08
      47.   to Axel - good point 23:55  |  Justine 14/06/08
      48.   to Max Bat Yami 04:34  |  Justine 15/06/08
      49.   #20-JR-Torah is Jewish Law not what you are quoting 06:46  |  PK 15/06/08
      50.   Torah law 16:23  |  hollingsworth 15/06/08
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