Polish national detained over arson and vandalism in Medjugorje
A Polish citizen is in custody on charges of vandalism and arson in Medjugorje; the prosecutor's office says the act was planned, and he was caught after a chase across a field.
A court in Bosnia and Herzegovina ordered one-month detention for 31-year-old Polish national Bartłomiej Krakowiak, suspected of vandalizing statues of the Virgin Mary and of setting fire to the outdoor altar of the Church of St. James at the Catholic shrine of Medjugorje.
Krakowiak, who is presented as a converted hardline believer who about ten years ago set out on foot from Warsaw to Medjugorje, according to police records said that "he does not regret it and that he would do the same again." He gave as his motive that he is convinced the apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Medjugorje and the claims of the visionaries are a hoax and that he wanted to draw public attention to that conviction.
Detention, charges and defense
The Prosecutor's Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina said the attack was not impulsive but had been prepared for several months. Krakowiak was arrested a few hours after the incident in the village of Cerno, near Ljubuški, after local residents and police chased him across a field; footage of the chase and the capture appeared on social media.
He is suspected of: damaging or destroying religious buildings, inciting national, racial and religious hatred, discord or intolerance, as well as causing general danger. The court considered him a flight risk and decided on pretrial detention on the grounds that, if released, he might repeat the crime; he can remain behind bars until August 28 or until a new court decision.
At the start of the hearing Krakowiak refused to accept a counsel, claiming he did not need one and that he wanted to remain in detention; the judge explained that by law he must have a lawyer. His attorney, Danisa Gačanin, challenged the Prosecutor's Office's claims that he acted out of religious hatred.
The defense states that after months of investigation he believed he had gathered evidence of fraud in Medjugorje and that his intention was not to harm anyone but to present his findings to the public. Prosecutors say that on the night to Tuesday he used black paint to damage statues of the Virgin Mary on Podbrdo hill and near the Blue Cross, wrote insulting messages against Medjugorje, the Virgin Mary and the visionaries, and then doused the outdoor altar of the Church of St. James with an accelerant and set it on fire.
Photo: Facebook / Crna Kronika Hrvatska / screenshot
