Polish attorney general’s office calls Holocaust law unconstitutional

The Polish attorney general’s office has described as partly unconstitutional the Holocaust law that was meant to defend Poland’s image abroad but instead drew criticism from Israel, Ukraine, and the United States.

The statement published Thursday came as a surprise, as Prosecutor General Zbigniew Ziobro is also the head of the justice ministry that came up with the controversial law.

The legislation, which came into force earlier this month, imposes fines or up to three years in jail on anyone who ascribes “responsibility or co-responsibility to the Polish nation or state for crimes committed by the German Third Reich.”

The attorney general’s office published its statement on the website of the Constitutional Court, which was tasked by the president with checking whether the law was constitutional.