“The attack on TV Republika is not over. This government will do everything it can to try to shut TV Republika down by 2027, before the elections. These attacks will continue,” warned PiS MP Janusz Kowalski on TV Republika, as he revealed details of a plan to close the Free Speech House television station, which was supposed to take place in 2025.
In the first half of January, PiS MP Janusz Kowalski revealed that in May of last year, it was possible to stop a plan by Donald Tusk and Rafał Trzaskowski that assumed the closure of TV Republika.
“In May last year, illegal migration was stopped. This was possible thanks to social resistance and TV Republika. Rafał Trzaskowski’s and Donald Tusk’s plan assumed shutting down TV Republika. On May 9, Donald Tusk had the idea of bringing Mr. Maciej Świrski, head of the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT), before the State Tribunal during a parliamentary vote, in order to close TV Republika even before the elections,”
the politician revealed at the time.
He added that “fortunately, they did not succeed thanks to the opposition, thanks to Law and Justice.”
Kowalski on TV Republika about the thwarted plan to destroy the Free Speech House station
Janusz Kowalski appeared today on TV Republika. In a conversation with editor-in-chief Tomasz Sakiewicz, he revealed details of the thwarted plan to destroy the Free Speech House station. However, the president of TV Republika indicated that all this information is consistent with his own knowledge.
“A few weeks before the elections, there was an attempt to switch off TV Republika’s signal. We know about this; it reached us. There have been many more such attempts, but at that time, they were acting aggressively. However, no vote took place in the Sejm,”
he said.
The Law and Justice MP discussed the details of the foiled attempt to destroy TV Republika.
“Indeed, a few days ago I revealed events that took place in April and May 2025, at the very end of the election campaign. There are two important events here. On April 11, an extremely important debate in Końskie was organized by TV Republika. A debate that was a kind of communication breakthrough, because TV Republika, thanks to the support of millions of Poles, broke the information cordon. Poles were able to see what reality looks like when it comes to the candidates. From that moment on, we saw enormous acceleration. According to the information we had together with the chairman of the PiS Parliamentary Club, Mariusz Błaszczak, there was an enormous acceleration in the attempt to bring Maciej Świrski, head of the KRRiT, before the State Tribunal at the sitting on May 9, 2025. Why? The chairman of the KRRiT, under the law, is an independent body. The way the law is applied depends on the chairman’s interpretation. I do not doubt that this attack on TV Republika was laid out according to a specific scenario: the suspension (because bringing him before the State Tribunal would have meant that) of Maciej Świrski, immediate intimidation of the KRRiT. Then there would also be a kind of hybrid war against TV Republika, in the context of false information, undermining the license, and an attempt to revoke the license before the elections on June 1. That was the ruthless plan of Donald Tusk’s team,”
Janusz Kowalski explained.
He also pointed to what he considers the significant role of the then Speaker of the Sejm, Szymon Hołownia.
“Here, one must say clearly, although much divides me from Speaker Szymon Hołownia, he acted in a pro-state manner. He told me clearly at the time that he would not allow the issue of freedom of speech and TV Republika to become a topic of the election campaign. Despite enormous pressure from Civic Platform, he did not agree to include in the agenda for May 9 the item concerning bringing Maciej Świrski before the State Tribunal,”
MP Kowalski said.
“As a result, this entire plan of the Civic Coalition, Donald Tusk, and Rafał Trzaskowski fell apart. There are moments in history when one must honestly assess even political competitors who behave in a pro-state and decent manner. At that time, Szymon Hołownia acted precisely in that way,”
the PiS MP added.
However, he warned that “the attack on TV Republika is not over. This government will do everything it can to try to shut TV Republika down by 2027, before the elections. In my view, Hołownia, seeing this great enthusiasm and the viewers themselves, made a pro-state, good decision. These attacks will continue.”
He then also referred to President Karol Nawrocki’s veto of the law concerning the DSA. As we recall, after this decision was announced, the head of the Polish state was subjected to repeated attacks from those in power, and the media favorable to them.
“It seems to me that, also in the context of what happened recently, the president’s veto regarding the DSA, that is, an attempt to impose political censorship on the media and the internet, it is worth looking at what the draft law on the KRRiT looks like. I have no doubt that this is another additional element, on top of last year’s arguments, explaining why there was a desire to close TV Republika and strike at Maciej Świrski. According to the interpretation and idea of Donald Tusk himself, it would be the chairman of the KRRiT who would decide on the interpretation of the law concerning censorship. It was Maciej Świrski in 2025 who guaranteed that acts in the form of the DSA, that is, the imposition of censorship, in this Tusk version would not be adopted, and certainly that the KRRiT would not participate in this process. Hence, also the attack on Maciej Świrski, who defended Poland against Tusk’s censorship,”
Kowalski said.
He concluded: “I thank the entire Poland 2050 grouping for the fact that in 2025, you behaved as you should have. I think that in the future, in history textbooks, this attack by Tusk and Trzaskowski on TV Republika, on freedom of speech, will be described.”
“There were leaks”
“We were receiving such information from many sources, meaning that such an action was being prepared. There were also leaks at the parliamentary level, the government level, and the KRRiT level, that something like this was being prepared, that an attempt would be made to switch off TV Republika’s signal. This action today has been renewed in a different way, but it is being carried out more methodically. Its main goal is to cut us off from funding and lead to a situation that would show that we are unable to operate TV Republika. Hence the constant appeal for help,”
Tomasz Sakiewicz admitted.