Mateusz Kijowski
Mateusz Kijowski (born December 12, 1968 in Warsaw ) is a Polish computer scientist, social activist and founder of the KOD protest movement .
Career
Kijowski studied mathematics for one semester at the University of Warsaw and theology at the Institute for Family Studies at the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, and finally journalism at the same university. He dropped out after a year to work for a textile company, where he designed sleeping bags and down jackets. In 1991 he was employed in the IT department of Gazeta Wyborcza . In 1993 he also trained network operators at the Warsaw Computer Education Center. In 2000, Kijowski graduated from the private university for business management in Warsaw .
Kijowski began his work as an activist at the local parish and was active in the father's movement, which cares for the rights of divorced fathers. Furthermore, he was a co-founder of the “stopstopnop” campaign, which campaigns against the opponents of child vaccination, and co-initiator of an organization that fights against violence against women.
Dissatisfied with the government policy of the ruling law and justice party (PiS), he opened a group on Facebook on November 20, 2015 under the name Komitet Obrony Demokracji (see Committee for the Defense of Democracy , KOD), which after only three days had around 30,000 members and developed into a nationwide movement. On December 2, 2015, the constituent meeting of the founding members of the KOD took place in Warsaw. The statutes were adopted and an interim board of directors was appointed. Kijowski was elected a member of the council.
On December 3, 2015, the members of the KOD appeared publicly for the first time with a picket in support of the Polish Constitutional Court, which had been affected by the PiS . In the rallies organized by the KOD, which took place for the first time on December 12, 2015 in Warsaw and on December 19, 2015 in over twenty other cities in Poland, tens of thousands of citizens protested against government policy.
Kijowski was married twice and has three children. On February 20, 2017, the responsible public prosecutor's office initiated criminal proceedings against him for breach of the maintenance obligation towards his children. His maintenance debts are said to be over 200,000 zlotys.
He has received death threats several times and asked for police protection.
At the beginning of January 2017 it became publicly known that Kijowski had 90,000 złoty (approx. 20,000 euros) of donations transferred to his company account in return for alleged IT services. The board then demanded his resignation, but refused to do so. At the end of January 2017 he was elected chairman of the Warsaw Mazovia region in the regular elections .
Web links
- Democracy in Poland: "It's like removing the brakes on a car" , Interview by Gabriele Lesser with Mateusz Kijowski, from March 1, 2016
Individual evidence
- ↑ Newsweek, November 22, 2015 ( Memento from December 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ TVN24, April 13, 2017
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kijowski, Mateusz |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Polish computer scientist, social activist, publicist and blogger |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 12, 1968 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Warsaw |