WARSAW, Poland — Polish authorities on Friday arrested a far-right leader and plan to charge him with public incitement of hatred against Jews, officials said.
The Internal Security Agency arrested Jacek Miedlar, who is also a former priest, according to the agency and the prosecutor’s office in the western city of Wroclaw.
Stanislaw Zaryn, a spokesman for Polish security services, said on Twitter that Miedlar was arrested in connection with a manifesto that accuses Jews of betraying Poland when the country regained its independence in 1918.
Miedlar is considered one of the most controversial and recognizable members of the extreme right in Poland and has a history of spreading anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.
In 2017 he was stopped from entering Britain where he had planned to attend an anti-Islam march.
Prosecutors investigated him a few years ago for calling Jews a “cancer” during a sermon but ultimately dropped that case.
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