The District Court for the Capital City of Warsaw found editor Tomasz Duklanowski guilty of defamation in connection with revealing the so-called envelope scandal. The basis of the verdict turned out to be the testimony of a former officer of the Stalinist Security Office (UB), Tadeusz Staszczyk, whom Judge Iwona Ramotowska deemed fully credible.
It all began when journalist Tomasz Duklanowski, on Radio Szczecin and in Gazeta Polska Codziennie, published the accounts of several patients and their families. They claimed that former Senate Speaker Tomasz Grodzki had accepted bribes from them. In response, Grodzki filed a private indictment against the journalist, accusing him of defamation and asserting that the individuals appearing in the reports had been planted.
The key witness for the prosecution – that is, for Grodzki – turned out to be Tadeusz Staszczyk, presented by Tomasz Grodzki at a press conference in January 2020 as a “man of honor.” Staszczyk, allegedly a former patient of Grodzki, claimed that he had been offered 5,000 złoty to make false accusations against the professor. However, records from the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) show that Tadeusz Staszczyk had been, since the early 1950s, an officer of the Security Office (UB), where he worked on tracking down anti-communist resistance soldiers. After the dissolution of the UB, he became a collaborator of the Security Service (SB).
Even though in his recording Staszczyk failed to provide any details about the alleged bribery attempt or describe the person who supposedly offered him money, his testimony became crucial for the court. Judge Iwona Ramotowska, in the reasoning of the verdict obtained by the portal Niezalezna.pl, found it to be fully credible, stating that the former UB officer’s testimony “was sincere and consistent, and moreover, the witness had no interest in misrepresenting the circumstances of the events.”
In the reasoning for the conviction of editor Duklanowski, it is stated that “An unknown man came to see him [Grodzki – ed. Niezalezna.pl], who for the sum of 5,000 złoty offered him to accuse the plaintiff [Grodzki – ed. Niezalezna.pl], saying that the plaintiff had demanded money from him for performing the surgery. (…) The witness’s testimony is corroborated by the testimony of the private plaintiff.“
By believing the former officer of the repressive apparatus, the court simultaneously rejected the credibility of a dozen or so witnesses who had accused Tomasz Grodzki of accepting bribes.
Judge Iwona Ramotowska sentenced Tomasz Duklanowski to a fine of 12,000 złoty and an additional 8,000 złoty for social purposes. In the past, this judge had signed a letter in defense of politically active judge Igor Tuleya.