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| By: Associated Press |
| Published: August 27, 2006 |
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A court gave a two-year suspended sentence Friday to a man who admitted that he insulted Poland's chief rabbi on a Warsaw street earlier this year and attacked him with a mace-like spray, a case that raised concerns about anti-Semitism.
The man, identified only as Karol G., 33, was convicted of using violence and racially motivated hate speech, but was spared the maximum possible punishment of five years in prison, court spokeswoman Katarzyna Zuchowicz told The Associated Press.
Zuchowicz said the man admitted guilt during the one-day proceeding to provoking the incident, in which he shouted "Poland for the Poles" at Rabbi Michael Schudrich and other Orthodox Jews. Schudrich was not seriously hurt.
The news agency PAP reported that the defendant confessed to making the slur and using the spray against Schudrich, but denied that he had punched the rabbi.
Schudrich, however, disputed the man's claim and said he has a medical report from after the attack proving he had been attacked in the chest and arm with a fist.
The court also fined the defendant 4,000 zlotys ($1,300), Zuchowicz said. The suspended sentence means he will be free, but he would have to serve the two years in prison should he commit another similar crime during five years of probation.
Schudrich praised Polish authorities for their handling of the case, saying the difficult and persistent search for the suspect and fast resolution of the trial reflected the seriousness with which leaders treat anti-Semitism.
"That someone is physically attacked in an anti-Semitic incident -- that is unacceptable in Poland today," Schudrich, who was not at the trial, told The AP by phone from New York. "That educational message got through loud and clear."
In response to the attack, President Lech Kaczynski and other leaders strongly condemned the May 27 incident and said they would not tolerate anti-Jewish crimes in Poland.
Police tracked down the alleged perpetrator after several weeks, and Schudrich identified him in a lineup in June.
The group that Karol G. attacked included members of Warsaw's Jewish community leaving a Sabbath service with children. |
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