“It was the largest operation of its kind since 1989. Hundreds of officers were deployed, and the activities of the Fire Service and emergency medical services were effectively disrupted because numerous vehicles from different services were dispatched to every such intervention,” said Tomasz Sakiewicz, president of Telewizja Republika, during a session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. He described the Polish government’s actions aimed at silencing independent media.
Sakiewicz emphasized that Republika is Poland’s largest news television channel and Europe’s largest conservative broadcaster. He noted that he heads not only the television station but an entire media group comprising several outlets, including Gazeta Polska, Niezalezna.pl, and Gazeta Polska Codziennie. He also pointed to the close cooperation between the media group and the Gazeta Polska Clubs, which he described as Europe’s largest grassroots civic movement.
“This organization has been operating for more than 30 years, and I have led it for a quarter of a century. What has happened to us over the past three years reminds me of the period when, as a young man, I fought against the communist regime, fearing raids by the Security Service or the militia that suppressed every manifestation of free speech. Unfortunately, the scenes I remember from the 1980s as a very young man have begun to repeat themselves in Poland,” he said.
Republika Targeted by the Authorities
The head of Republika recalled that immediately after the December 13 coalition took power, public media outlets were forcibly taken over, and many of their journalists subsequently joined media affiliated with his organization.
“That is why Telewizja Republika experienced extraordinary growth. Viewers of the public broadcasters—around 10 million television viewers and another eight million online users—moved to our media,” he said.
He argued that the pressure initially directed against public media after the change of government – similar to what is currently happening in Hungary, where public media signals have reportedly been cut off – was later extended to Republika, despite it being a privately owned broadcaster.
“No political party and no government can dictate to us, and that has always been the case. My media outlets were built that way. Unfortunately, from the very first days of the new government, enormous pressure was brought against us,” he said.
Sakiewicz stated that journalists began receiving mass court summonses, police and prosecutorial investigations were launched, and the station’s advertisers were intimidated. He also referred to attempts to seize the bank accounts of foundations cooperating with his media organizations. According to him, “the last several weeks resembled the darkest scenarios from the communist era, including martial law.”
He was referring to events that followed the announcement that Zbigniew Ziobro, who is legally residing in the United States, had become a political commentator for the station.
The Peak of the Pressure
Sakiewicz noted that employing politicians as political commentators is common practice at many television stations. However, he said that in Republika’s case, the decision “triggered a particularly strong reaction from the authorities.”
He recalled that the day after announcing cooperation with Ziobro, he received a summons from the prosecutor’s office.
“Formally, I was summoned as a witness, but the leadership of the Ministry of Justice had publicly declared that I would be charged, arguing that the mere fact of employing the former Minister of Justice constituted assistance in his alleged evasion of justice,” he said.
He continued:
“At the same time, within several dozen hours, an extraordinary operation began. It was described as a cyberterrorism operation. Over a period of roughly 60 to 80 hours, around 20 cyber incidents connected with our media outlets occurred. They consisted of reports submitted to the police or other state institutions claiming that someone intended to commit suicide either at one of our newsrooms or at the home of one of our journalists. We have evidence showing that the authorities themselves considered these reports implausible and instructed some public officials accordingly. Unfortunately, the police received completely different instructions.”
He recalled what he described as forced police entries into journalists’ homes and searches conducted without warrants.
“The most dramatic incident occurred at my home, which also serves as my office. Police officers forcibly entered, refusing to identify themselves and without proper insignia. My assistant was handcuffed and taken away. They abandoned her in the middle of the street before fleeing. It was clearly a punitive operation. Fortunately, the officers were recorded,” he said.
According to Sakiewicz, the Minister of the Interior publicly encouraged such actions.
“The minister publicly argued that this was the appropriate response to a cyberattack and that the authorities would react in the same manner every time such an incident was reported. That effectively meant that anyone sending any email alleging a cyberattack could trigger a forced police entry into the homes of our journalists. The operation targeted key Republika journalists and also our newsroom, apparently with the aim of disrupting our work and possibly even taking us off the air. There were also serious threats that we would face consequences for allegedly obstructing the fight against cyberterrorism. Today, it is not the police officers who broke the law who are being prosecuted, but, for example, my assistant—because, while handcuffed behind her back, she allegedly failed to present her identity card.”
He added that media outlets controlled by the authorities continuously encouraged such actions.
Sakiewicz said the operation was halted only after widespread public outrage. However, he claimed that similar actions were later directed against President Karol Nawrocki, including an entry into his family home, as well as against Jarosław Kaczyński, leader of the Law and Justice (PiS) party, and Sławomir Cenckiewicz, head of the National Security Bureau.
“It was the largest operation of this kind since 1989. Hundreds of officers were deployed, and the activities of the Fire Service and emergency medical services were disrupted because numerous vehicles from different services were sent to every intervention. As it turned out, the operational algorithm used during those several dozen hours was abandoned after the operation at my home because public outrage was so overwhelming.
“Incidentally, a former member of the communist security services, who is acquainted with the family of the current Minister of the Interior, came to me and informed me that the operation had been called off, provided that we stopped publicizing it. Of course, I have no intention of remaining silent. I will continue to speak about what happened. We witnessed something that happens in Belarus or Russia, not in democratic countries,” he stressed.
Sakiewicz also recalled that shortly afterward journalist Leszek Kraskowski was arrested. According to him, Kraskowski had been investigating a person involved in the campaign against Republika because, he claimed, “the entire disinformation operation was subordinated to Roman Giertych.”
“He is a former far-right nationalist who is now Donald Tusk’s right-hand man and represents liberal-left political circles. Once regarded as pro-Russian and opposed to cooperation with the West, he now performs the government’s dirty media work, focusing primarily on destroying the public image of its political opponents. He also exerts informal influence over the prosecution service and the courts,” Sakiewicz said.