This morning the Court of Appeal announced a final ruling, rejecting once and for all the request of ABW (Internal Security Agency) chief Rafał Syrysko to publish a correction in Codzienna regarding an article describing torture and inhumane treatment of Fr. Olszewski. Such a demand, followed by a lawsuit, had been filed against editor-in-chief of GPC (Gazeta Polska Codziennie), Tomasz Sakiewicz. “The truth has prevailed. The head of ABW failed to force the courts into issuing a ruling that would turn truth into falsehood,” commented Fr. Olszewski’s lawyer, attorney Michał Skwarzyński, who supported the GPC editorial team in the legal dispute with the head of ABW.
The case dates back to July of last year. At that time, Gazeta Polska Codziennie published extensive excerpts from Fr. Olszewski’s account of his first hours and days after being detained by officers of the Agencja Bezpieczeństwa Wewnętrznego (ABW – Internal Security Agency). According to his testimony, he was denied access to the toilet, given no water to drink, left hungry, humiliated, and more. His lawyers unequivocally described this as torture, relating his experience to the canon of human rights.
In response to these revelations published in Codzienna on July 18, ABW chief Rafał Syrysko submitted a request to editor-in-chief Tomasz Sakiewicz to publish a correction, claiming that the priest had not been tortured and that “none of the ABW officers involved in the case committed any unlawful acts.”
Editor Sakiewicz rejected the demand for a correction, prompting the head of ABW to take the matter to court. After losing in the District Court, he filed an appeal, which he also lost yesterday.
The truth prevailed, and the courts did not allow the head of ABW to force them into ordering the editorial team to correct truth into falsehood. It must be clearly stated that in Fr. Olszewski’s case, irregularities were confirmed by the Polish Ombudsman, the case was admitted for review by the European Court of Human Rights, it is being examined by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, and the U.S. Department of State included the treatment of Fr. Olszewski in its report on the rule of law. Are all of them wrong, and only Mr. Syrysko stands as the guardian of truth? The courts saw this contradiction and refused to become a tool to whitewash ABW’s actions in this matter, said attorney Michał Skwarzyński. He emphasized that this case shows why the current government is so determined to control the judiciary and the prosecution. “By gagging the media, many issues can be swept under the rug. This government does not want situations like the one involving Fr. Olszewski, it wants situations where, without consequences, miracles of jurisprudence occur as in the case of Mr. Nowak, where the prosecutor supports the defense’s motion to dismiss the case,” said Skwarzyński.
Read more in Gazeta Polska Codziennie.