Polish police release protesters' photos, seeking identities

FILE - In this Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016 file photo, Poland's Interior Minister Mariusz Blaszczak addresses media after the Visegrad Group meeting in Prague, Czech Republic. Poland’s interior minister defended the decision to post photos of some anti-government protesters to illustrate the country’s “zero tolerance for breaches of the law,” but opposition lawmakers Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017 called it an act of “political revenge” intended to intimidate government critics. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, file) (The Associated Press)

FILE- In this file photo taken Jan.12, 2017, Poland's Interior Minister Mariusz Blaszczak, right, sits next to Jaroslaw Kaczynski, left, the ruling Law and Justice party leader and Poland's most powerful politician, as they attend a parliament session in Warsaw. Blaszczak said Jan. 19, 2017 that the decision to post photos of some anti-government protesters was to illustrate the country's "zero tolerance for breaches of the law," but opposition lawmakers called it an act of "political revenge" intended to intimidate government critics. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz, File) (The Associated Press)

WARSAW, Poland – Poland's interior minister says the publication of photos of some participants in an anti-government protest last month shows that there is "zero tolerance for breaches of the law."

Mariusz Blaszczak was referring Thursday to the controversial posting by Warsaw police of images of 21 people who took part in a huge Dec. 16 protest outside the parliament, in a bid to identify them.

Police removed some of the protesters, who were blocking the passage of the prime minister's car, but made no arrests at the time.

Blaszczak said the blockade amounted to a breach of law and the suspects should be "brought to account."

Opposition lawmakers said the true goal was to intimidate government critics and discourage them from attending protests.