Marek Błoński, acting as liquidator in what was unlawfully taken over as the Polish Press Agency (PAP), is declaring war on free speech. He is demanding apologies and money because Tomasz Grodecki, a journalist for Niezalezna.pl, dared to speak openly about the unlawful and forceful entry of the new authorities into the public media.
As Niezależna.pl journalists have learned, in recent days, Tomasz Grodecki received an extraordinary lawsuit from a law firm representing Marek Błoński, a man who, as a result of actions taken by Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz (bypassing the National Media Council), styles himself as the liquidator of PAP. Błoński is demanding Grodecki pays PLN 20,000 to Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy Foundation and post an apology on social media for six months.
One Must Not Say “Illegal”
Błoński appears intent on silencing anyone who questions the legality of the “December 13 Coalition’s” actions in the public media. This is a reasonable interpretation. In the lawsuit, the lawyers of the “neo-PAP” list as one of their principal allegations Grodecki’s “false and unfounded” claims regarding the “illegal assumption of office by the company’s [PAP] liquidator and the illegal actions of the company’s management.”
Appointees of the new authorities took issue with words of truth spoken, among others, on Radio Wnet, where Grodecki stated:
“The current management of PAP, the illegal management of PAP, the liquidator who entered PAP on illegal grounds (…) has led to the point where PAP has just eliminated its own reliability.”
In the court filing, one can read that questioning the legality of the authorities at PAP “strikes at the very foundations of the plaintiff’s operations.” It also contains a warning:
“I further inform you that your actions may be examined concerning criminal liability and, should it be determined that they bear the hallmarks of a prohibited act, in particular the crime of defamation specified in Article 212 of the Penal Code, the necessary legal steps will be taken to protect the Company’s rights.”
An Attempt to Legitimize the “Entry Group”
The attack on the Niezalezna.pl journalist is nothing other than an attempt to intimidate the journalistic community and enforce silence regarding one of the biggest scandals of the Third Polish Republic. Let us recall: the takeover of public media (TVP, Polish Radio, PAP) took place with a blatant violation of the law, as repeatedly pointed out by constitutional scholars and even by registry courts, which initially refused to register the liquidators in the National Court Register (KRS).
This operation, coordinated in part via WhatsApp by the so-called “Entry Group,” involved forcibly introducing into buildings individuals unlawfully appointed by the Minister of Culture, bypassing the term-bound National Media Council. Today, those installed in their positions in this manner are attempting, with the help of law firms, to erase the memory of these events by demanding that journalists issue statements that they are acting “in accordance with the law.”
A Russian Link and the Trump Slip-up
In the background of this legal battle over censorship lies the embarrassment of the “neo-PAP.” The lawsuit is reportedly a consequence of Tomasz Grodecki revealing who was behind the publication in September of a false PAP dispatch that attributed to Donald Trump the words that he would help Poland “only after the war.” This was an obvious fake news that harmed Polish-American relations.
Grodecki established at the time that the editor responsible, Michał Szczygielski, is a graduate of Saint Petersburg State University, an institution whose Rector supports the invasion of Ukraine. Instead of drawing personnel consequences and admitting fault, Liquidator Błoński chose to attack the journalist who disclosed this fact.