“The court crushed the actions of Donald Tusk’s regime and the Prime Minister’s Chancellery against Republika journalists, ordering the prosecutor’s office to launch an investigation into the suppression of press criticism!” – announced Jarosław Olechowski, head of publishing at Dom Wolnego Słowa, on social media.
Olechowski shared the decision of the Warsaw District Court on platform X. It concerns an appeal filed by Telewizja Republika’s legal representative against a prior decision, dated December 30, 2024, which refused to open an investigation.
As a reminder, the case centers on allegations of suppressing critical press by denying Republika journalists access to press conferences organized by the Prime Minister’s Office (KRPM).
Investigation Ordered
The head of Poland’s largest conservative TV station emphasized: “The court crushed the actions of Donald Tusk’s regime and the Chancellery of the Prime Minister against Republika journalists and ordered the prosecutor’s office to investigate the suppression of press criticism.”
Olechowski also published the court’s justification, which reads:
“Denying journalists from particular stations access to a direct source of information — such as the Prime Minister’s press conference — may lead to violations of the freedom to express opinions, as well as to acquire and disseminate information, as protected under Article 54(1) of the Polish Constitution and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.”
And further:
“The recipients of these actions were exclusively journalists from the government-critical outlet Telewizja Republika […] The recurring and selective nature of these actions suggests a pattern consistent with systematically restricting access to public information and obstructing the ability to ask critical questions of the executive branch. This may constitute an act of suppressing press criticism.”