Get rid of the 'Institute of National Persecution'

Poland's conservative-liberal ruling coalition plans to cut funding for the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), which is charged with the prosecution of Communist and Nazi crimes committed in Poland. In his opinion piece for the liberal daily Polska television, journalist Thomasz Lis calls for the IPN to be scrapped for persecuting the former hero of the revolution and Polish President Lech Wałęsa. "Why should I sponsor a freedom of research that results in black being called white and vice versa. ... I don't give a damn about a freedom of expression that allows a hero of the free trade union [Solidarność] to be branded a pest who hindered rather than helped [the country]. ... Freedom is worth great sacrifices. But people who spit on the best of the best are not worth much. How can one admire a nation that slings mud at people who would be treated with respect in any other country? ... Have we earned respect when we cannot even respect ourselves? The 'Institute of National Persecution' should cease to exist. The budgetary cuts are too mild a punishment."

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