“We are seeing an intensification of post-SB [secret police] actions against our media—and the goal is one: to cut you off from information,” said Tomasz Sakiewicz on the air of Telewizja Republika. He was commenting on the lawsuit filed by the liquidator of the Polish Press Agency (PAP) against Niezalezna.pl journalist Tomasz Grodecki. The president of Republika noted that this case is not an isolated one.
As reported today by Niezalezna.pl, Marek Błoński—acting as liquidator of the unlawfully taken-over Polish Press Agency—has sued our journalist, editor Tomasz Grodecki. He is demanding payment of PLN 20,000 to the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity Foundation and the publication of apologies for six months on social media. The reason for the lawsuit is Grodecki’s open statements about the unlawful and forceful takeover of public media by the new authorities.
The case was commented on air by Telewizja Republika’s president, editor Tomasz Sakiewicz. “We stand by our journalist; we stand by our commentator, just as we stand by every one of our employees,” he said.
“At this moment we have around 100 people from our newsroom who have been taken to court in one way or another. They are being dragged through the courts by individuals generally connected with the current ruling camp. On top of that, we have several very active prosecutorial investigations that we know about—either concerning our station or our journalists. It’s a massive, coordinated operation combined with an attempt to strip us of our broadcasting license and an attempt to intimidate advertisers,” he said.
In his view, those in power are currently preparing for elections. “They know that during an election campaign they cannot liquidate us or strike at us, because that would have a disastrous effect on voters—so they want to hit us now,” he said.
“Just as their primary goal when they came to power was to take over public media—which was probably their mistake, because they underestimated us—so now, at the end of their rule, they will want to liquidate Republika. And a very important thread here is legal and financial pressure: to starve us out, wear us down, and suffocate us,” he declared.
According to him, the authorities realize that other methods will not work. “We have an extensive broadcasting system and an extensive licensing system, and we are able to switch, to some extent, between platforms. So the most serious blow is meant to take away our time, tie us up with various actions in courts and prosecutors’ offices, intimidate whoever they can, and above all destroy our finances,” he said.
“That is the primary objective of these actions—it is already clear, and they are no longer even hiding it. The fact that various SB-era, post-SB, or neo-SB circles are trying to attack our fundraising efforts, for example, or ridicule them or undermine their credibility, shows where it hurts them the most—because our stable source of funding, our support, is you,” he addressed viewers.
He emphasized that there is currently an intensification of “post-SB” actions against the media of the Free Speech Zone, and that the main goal of those in power is to cut Poles off from information. “That is their most important goal—to do it now, because once they enter a real election campaign they will no longer be able to do it. That’s why this moment is critical; the campaign itself will already tie their hands. They won’t be able to do it then,” he said.