Paweł Adamowicz was stabbed during a charity concert in Gdańsk on January 13, 2019, and died from his wounds in hospital the next day.
Adam Warżawa/PAP
The murderer of the mayor of the Polish city of Gdańsk has appealed against the life sentence he is currently serving for the killing.
Paweł Adamowicz was stabbed during a charity concert in Gdańsk on January 13, 2019, and died from his wounds in hospital the next day. His killer, Stefan Wilmont, was arrested at the scene of the crime.
The attack, captured live on television, stunned Poland, and prompted accusations from opposition politicians that the alleged incendiary language of some of the country’s leaders and pro-government media might have influenced the murderer.
Wilmot was sentenced to life in prison after a three-year-long investigation and a year-long trial which ended at a Gdańsk court on March 16 this year.
Under the terms of his sentence Wilmot would be eligible for parole after 40 years in prison.
On Tuesday Radio Gdańsk reported that Wilmont’s defence lawyer had lodged an appeal against the severity of the sentence.
“I can confirm that the appeal was lodged on behalf of the accused, but I do not want to reveal any details as to its direction,” Marcin Kminkowski, Wilmont’s defence lawyer told PAP.
In Kminkowski’s opinion, the punishment was too severe.
“As a defence lawyer, I have a duty to look after the client’s interests,” he said. “In the opinion of the defence, the punishment is too severe, taking into account not the event itself, but taking into account the mental state of the accused. It must be remembered that he was in a state of diminished capacity, which was stated in the District Court’s ruling, which is not yet final.
“If it was established that we were dealing with a perpetrator acting within the scope of diminished capacity, the court had the option of applying extraordinary mitigation to the punishment. However, the court, despite the fact that it had such a possibility, applied the harshest possible penalty,” Kminkowski added.