The chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists, Mateusz Morawiecki, has sent a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, calling for action to defend freedom of speech in Poland. The matter concerns law enforcement officers entering the homes of journalists associated with TV Republika.
“What we are witnessing increasingly resembles a coordinated campaign of pressure directed at independent media institutions, their journalists, employees, contributors, viewers, and advertisers,”
the former prime minister stressed in the letter.
For nearly a week, a large-scale campaign has been underway targeting TV Republika journalists and the station itself. Officers enter private homes under various pretexts based on anonymous false reports. The most controversial incident occurred on Friday, when police entered the apartment of TV Republika CEO Tomasz Sakiewicz. Officers claimed they were responding to an alleged threat to a child’s life, but according to reports, they did not identify themselves and handcuffed the station CEOt’s assistant. Police also appeared outside the headquarters of wPolsce24.
Referring to the matter, Morawiecki stressed that “if we do not say STOP to this now, soon every media outlet that dares to ask those in power uncomfortable questions may become subject to repression.”
“Many years ago, they already showed that they would stop at nothing to silence inconvenient journalists. Today, they are doing the same thing again,”
he stated.
“Silence in the face of pressure on independent media always ends the same way, with restrictions on democracy, intimidation of journalists, and attempts to silence those who scrutinize those in power,”
he declared.
He added that “journalists and individuals connected with media outlets critical of the current government cannot live in fear of interventions by state services, searches, or economic pressure simply because they are doing their jobs.”
“The presence of police officers in the private homes of people connected with media critical of those in power creates an atmosphere of intimidation that should not exist in a democratic European state,”
he emphasized.
Morawiecki also stated that Prime Minister Donald Tusk “should clearly guarantee that no state institution will be used to exert pressure on media critical of the government.”
“I appeal to European institutions to urgently place the situation in Poland under monitoring, because media freedom cannot be conditional or dependent on political sympathies,”
he stressed.
“Remember, this government has shown one thing: give them a finger and they will take the whole hand. Therefore, not one step back! You have every right to disagree with one editorial office or another, but defend the right to disagree and comment openly. That is the foundation of democracy,”
he concluded.