Polish writer charged for calling president a "moron"

A well-known writer and screenwriter has been charged by Warsaw prosecutors with insulting President Andrzej Duda after he called him a “moron” in a Facebook post.

Jakub Ż. made the post in response to a tweet by Duda congratulating Joseph Biden on his victory in last year's US presidential election.

"In mid-March, the Warsaw.... Prosecutor's Office filed an indictment with the District Court in Warsaw against Jakub Ż. The accused was charged with publicly insulting the Polish president by using a term commonly considered offensive on a social network profile," a spokeswoman for the prosecutors has said.

President Duda, in a tweet on November 7 wrote: "Congratulations to Joe Biden for a successful presidential campaign. As we await the nomination by the Electoral College, Poland is determined to upkeep a high-level and high-quality PL-US strategic partnership for an even stronger alliance."

Commenting on the tweet, Jakub Ż. wrote: "... I have never heard that in the American election process there is such a thing as a 'nomination by the Electoral College.' Biden won the election... He won 290 solid electoral votes, and eventually, after a recount of votes in Georgia, he will probably win 306. To win, he needed 270..." commented the writer adding that "Andrzej Duda is a moron."

In the course of the investigation, Jakub Ż. "did not confess to committing the alleged offense," said a spokesperson for Warsaw prosecutors, Aleksandra Skrzyniarz. "He indicated that his statement was a critical assessment of president's actions."

If found guilty of insulting the president, the writer faces a possible three-year prison term.