“If the Internal Security Agency and the Military Counterintelligence Service tell you that you don’t have access, then you don’t have access. Period,” writes Jacek Dobrzyński, press spokesperson for the Minister-Coordinator of Special Services, about Sławomir Cenckiewicz’s situation. He was quickly corrected by the plenipotentiary of the Head of the National Security Bureau. And not only him.
The day before Karol Nawrocki’s inauguration as President of the Republic of Poland, the Chancellery of the Prime Minister filed cassation complaints with the Supreme Administrative Court against the Voivodeship Administrative Court judgments of June 17 concerning the revocation of Sławomir Cenckiewicz’s security clearances for access to classified information. Since then, a narrative has been spreading that Cenckiewicz was stripped of these clearances, which was supposedly interpreted as a downgrade of the National Security Bureau (the unit headed by the historian).
Plenipotentiaries of the BBN head and the Chancellery of the President consistently point out that this is not true, which is explicitly stated in Article 152 of the Law on Proceedings before Administrative Courts. According to the provision, “if a complaint against an act or action is upheld, it does not produce legal effects until the judgment becomes final, unless the court decides otherwise.”
At the end of the weekend, Jacek Dobrzyński returns to the issue. Instead of respecting the judicial process, he points to the allegedly unlimited powers of the services.
“In Poland, who has access to classified information is decided by the National Security Authority (as it is in all NATO countries), namely ABW or SKW. Neither a court ruling (especially a non-final one), nor a legal opinion, nor statements from the parties involved change this,” Dobrzyński asserts.
“In other words: if the Internal Security Agency (ABW) and the Military Counterintelligence Service (SKW) tell you that you don’t have access, then you don’t have access. Period, “he adds.
The post was responded to by Cenckiewicz’s plenipotentiary, attorney Bartosz Lewandowski. “Excuse me? The services do not have unlimited power. It is subject to court control, and it was precisely the voivodeship court that crushed the reasoning behind the decision to revoke Sławomir Cenckiewicz’s security clearance,” he counters.
“In Poland, the function of the national security authority is performed only by the Head of ABW. And administrative decisions in the Republic of Poland, even those issued by the services, are contestable and revocable through the judicial process,” adds Anna Szeląg from the Institute of National Remembrance.
“It’s time to take a trip back to reality because the PRL ended in this matter in 1999,” responds Dobrzyński, according to Col. Mariusz Kozłowski.
Former member of the State Commission for Investigating Russian Influence on the Internal Security of the Republic of Poland, Arkadiusz Puławski – referring to Dobrzyński’s post – attached a telling photograph.