Polish nationalists seek probe of Rivlin over Holocaust comments

WARSAW, Poland — A Polish nationalist group asks prosecutors to investigate whether Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin broke a new Holocaust speech law during a visit to Poland last week.

The National Movement says it believes Rivlin might have violated controversial legislation that criminalizes falsely blaming the Polish nation or Poles for the crimes of Nazi Germany.

The group’s vice president, Krzysztof Bosak, says it formally filed its request to prosecutors on Tuesday.

He says the matter concerns Rivlin reportedly telling his Polish counterpart that Polish anti-Semitism enabled the implementation of Germany’s genocide. The alleged comments during commemorations at Auschwitz last Thursday were carried by an Israeli newspaper and were not part of Rivlin’s public remarks.

Bosak acknowledged his group was testing the law, which is not being enforced in practice after sparking a dispute with Israel.

— AP