The Christian owner of a printing company in Poland has received a criminal conviction for refusing an order from an LGBT group. After a three year legal battle, the country’s most senior court found him guilty of refusing to provide services without a proper reason.

Alice Neffe, Legal Counsel for ADF International in Brussels, has filed an intervention with the Constitutional Tribunal of Poland following the Supreme Court ruling. She told Premier why she is supporting the man – who wishes to remain nameless due to the threat his family have received.

“International law protects robustly freedom of religion, including… freedom of conscience which allows people to act according to their faith and with their conscience.”

Her client refused to print a banner promoting the events of an LGBT-organisation, arguing it would be endorsing a message which his faith teaches that he cannot.

In many cases of alleged discrimination, Polish courts apply penal law. If service providers refuse services in the absence of “a justified cause,” they can be convicted and fined. The main issue at stake in this case was for the courts to determine whether religious convictions could constitute a “justified cause.”

Premier’s Eno Adeogun spoke to Alice Neffe, you can listen here 

News Culled from Premier News