The rector of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin (KUL) has decided to fire a lecturer who commented “in an unacceptable manner on the deaths of the family murdered in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski,” university spokesman Wojciech Andrusiewicz said Tuesday.
The decision concerns a post, “three fewer votes for Konfa,” that Dr. Katarzyna Pejda of KUL’s Second Department of Sinology put on Facebook. She wrote it under a report that three bodies had been found in the home of the perpetrator of the shooting in Kraków. “Konfa” is a colloquial name for Konfederacja, a Polish political party.
Two other users criticized Pejda’s post. She replied: “yes, seriously. The tragedy took place in Kraków, not in the nest that raised this rat.”
KUL spokesman Wojciech Andrusiewicz told PAP, the Polish Press Agency, on Tuesday that the author of the posts had been fired.
“The rector of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin decided today to terminate, effective immediately, the employment contract of the academic teacher who, over the past weekend, commented in an unacceptable manner on the deaths of the family murdered in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski,” he wrote.
He stressed that a lack of respect for the inherent dignity of the human person is unacceptable.
“The behavior of the researcher, who has now been dismissed, stood in glaring contradiction to the principles of social coexistence and to the values that form the foundation of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin. We require academic teachers to uphold ethical and moral standards, which in this case were flagrantly violated,” he added.
The rector made the decision to dismiss the lecturer on his own. It is unrelated to the disciplinary proceedings previously initiated against Dr. Pejda over her posts, which are now moot. Andrusiewicz explained that the rector concluded the employee’s offense was too serious and that consequences must follow.
Pejda’s posts have since been deleted.
Konfederacja activist Rafał Mekler reported the matter on social media.
On Saturday, an attack took place on the Main Square (Rynek Główny) in Kraków. A 24-year-old man drove a car onto the square and fired at random people. Within a few minutes he was neutralized by police officers, who suffered serious injuries during the intervention. The perpetrator died Monday morning of gunshot wounds.
Seven people, including the perpetrator, were killed in the attack in Kraków, and 16 were injured. Three more victims were members of the 24-year-old’s family, whose bodies were found in an apartment in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski. The bodies bore gunshot wounds. (PAP)
