Polish Mayor Stabbed on Stage during Charity Event (+Video)


Polish Mayor Stabbed on Stage during Charity Event (+Video)

TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Paweł Adamowicz, the mayor of Gdańsk in northern Poland, was stabbed on stage in front of thousands on Sunday evening in an apparent assassination attempt.

Adamowicz, who has served as mayor of Gdańsk since 1998, was resuscitated at the scene and rushed to a nearby hospital where he underwent five hours of surgery. Doctors described his condition as “critical” and “serious”.

One of the surgeons, Dr Tomasz Stefaniak, said Adamowicz suffered a “serious wound to the heart, a wound to the diaphragm and to the internal organs” and had needed a huge amount of blood. Gdansk is holding a blood collection for Adamowicz on Monday and a rally against violence is also planned, the Guardian reported.

Adamowicz is a powerful liberal voice in a country that has been governed by the rightwing Law and Justice party since 2015. He is best known in Poland and internationally as a staunch supporter of migrant rights during a period of rising anti-migrant sentiment.

Polish media reports quoting police sources have named the alleged assailant as Stefan W, a 27-year-old from Gdańsk with a record of violent crime. Polish law restricts the surnames of people accused of a crime being reported.

It is understood that Stefan W was convicted of a series of violent assaults and sentenced to prison in 2014.

Video footage of the incident shows the assailant addressing the crowd from a microphone on the stage. He is reported as saying: “Hello! Hello! My name is Stefan. I sat innocent in prison, I sat innocent in prison. Civic Platform tortured me, and that’s why Adamowicz is dead.”

 

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