Main points:
- In a bus on route 8 in Bielsko-Biała, a man aggressively approached Ukrainian girls aged 12-13, shouting xenophobic insults and threats.
- A video of the incident spread on social media, causing public outrage.
- Police began investigating without an official complaint and detained the attacker on the same day.
- The attacker was found to be a driver for the city’s public transport company, MZK, who was on long-term sick leave.
- The transport company announced disciplinary action and a report to law enforcement, condemning the displays of aggression and discrimination.
Police in Bielsko-Biała, southern Poland, detained a man who aggressively approached children from Ukraine on a city bus. The incident occurred on Saturday during a route 8 bus journey.
A video that spread on social media shows the man attacking two or three girls, approximately 12-13 years old, who were speaking Ukrainian. He shouted vulgar and xenophobic insults, claimed the children were living at the expense of Poles, threatened them with quick deportation to Ukraine, and said he knew where one of them lived. When a girl asked him not to touch her, the man responded with more insults.
The recording quickly spread online and caused a wave of outrage. Initially, there was no official complaint, so law enforcement began investigating on their own initiative. A local police spokesperson, Commissioner Sławomir Kocur, stated that there would be no place for xenophobia in Bielsko-Biała. On the same day, police identified and detained the man.
The city’s public transport company (MZK) reported that the attacker was a driver who worked for the company but had been on long-term sick leave. The transport company announced disciplinary action against the employee and a report of a possible crime, emphasizing that it strongly condemns any displays of aggression, violence, and discrimination.
Police emphasize that they will not tolerate hate crimes and will thoroughly investigate the circumstances of the case. The man is likely to be charged with public insult on national grounds and threats — under Polish law, such actions are punishable by restriction or deprivation of liberty.
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