The Young Communist League (YCL) protested outside the Polish embassy on Monday.

This action was the result of an appeal for international solidarity issued by the Communist Party of Poland (CPP) ahead of the reopening of court proceedings against the editorial board of the party’s newspaper Brzask.

The CPP says that this is a politically motivated prosecution which is part of a wider campaign to outlaw the party.

YCL London branch chair Amy Field said: “This dangerous trend in Poland and other European countries is on the rise, including in Britain where the Communist Party of Britain was labelled an extremist organisation, this is a slippery slope to criminalising legitimate opposition to a capitalist system that is taking away our livelihoods and now our hard-won democratic rights.”

Communist Party general secretary Rob Griffiths  said: “This prosecution is a threat to civil rights across Europe including Britain.  It sets most dangerous precedents.

“The imprisonment of journalists for ‘any public presentation of the ideology of communism’ is very comprehensive and could include the favourable reporting of the social and economic achievements of Cuba or Vietnam or expressing support for the aspirations for human emancipation outlined by Marx and Engels in the Communist Manifesto.

“The three-year prison sentences sought for the editorial staff of Brazsk threatens all progressive people across Europe.

“It is for this reason that we have written to the High Representative of the EU in Britain asking that he convey to the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Councils of Ministers the request that they publicly condemn the prosecution as a direct violation of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.”