When Civic Platform seized power, one of the most scandalous cases of the Third Polish Republic was shut down by the prosecutor’s office. Prosecutors who wanted to press charges against him were removed. As a result, an obvious case stopped being investigated, while only journalists are being prosecuted, said Tomasz Sakiewicz, editor-in-chief of Gazeta Polska, in TV Republika before the hearing with Tomasz Grodzki.
For a long time now, court proceedings have been underway as a result of the indictment filed by Tomasz Grodzki, former Marshal of the Senate, against Tomasz Sakiewicz, editor-in-chief of Gazeta Polska.
Grodzki accuses the head of GP of defamation and insult (Art. 212 and 216 of the Penal Code). This is linked to allegations of corruption in the Szczecin hospital where Grodzki worked as a surgeon. The case is being heard behind closed doors.
Today at 11:00 another hearing in this trial began.
“Mr. Tomasz Grodzki was repeatedly asked to declassify this case. That depends on him, not the court. Unfortunately, he refuses. I believe that dozens of people who testified here could have contributed greatly to the knowledge about Tomasz Grodzki, about what happened in this case, and about Platforma Obywatelska, of which Grodzki is one of the key leaders. He was shielded for 4 years by immunity. When they seized power, one of the most scandalous cases of the Third Polish Republic was shut down by the prosecutor’s office. Prosecutors who wanted to press charges against him were removed. As a result, an obvious case stopped being investigated, while only journalists are being prosecuted”, said Tomasz Sakiewicz before the hearing.
At the end of 2019, the media – including Gazeta Polska – began reporting that Tomasz Grodzki, as a surgeon professionally associated with the Specialist Hospital named after Prof. Alfred Sokołowski in Szczecin, had contacted Prof. Agnieszka Popiela in 2016 regarding a donation “to the foundation”. After Prof. Popiela, other witnesses began to come forward in this matter, leading the prosecutor’s office to open an investigation. Hundreds of witnesses were questioned. Corruption incidents were established, some of which had not yet become time-barred. Grodzki countered with witnesses who were supposed to speak well of him. The most zealous defender of the Marshal was Tadeusz Staszczyk – a former UB (Security Office) officer who had informed on his own wife.