“Today we can clearly see that for this bad, discredited, corrupt government, the problem is TV Republika — because it tells the truth. Tusk took over the public media in order to seal the system. To ensure that no other media would talk about what he is doing — all the scams, the theft, the huge deficit, the hole in the National Health Fund. They wanted to make sure there were no free media; that the only media allowed to exist would be those friendly to the government. That is why you are such a thorn in their side,” said Andrzej Śliwka, MP from Law and Justice, in a conversation with a Republika journalist.
This morning, a “secret sitting” of the Sejm was held, lasting nearly 1.5 hours. After it, Law and Justice MP Bartosz Kownacki stated: “I have no doubt that the editor-in-chief of TV Republika is being surveilled by the security services, and that this is being used for a brutal, primitive political game. Today, the services are being used to wage political warfare.”
The TV Republika reporter also spoke with other opposition MPs. Śliwka, while unable to directly reveal what was said in the plenary hall, pointed out that “the information presented today by Prime Minister Tusk should first and foremost be presented to the Polish people. I believe Poles would judge it unequivocally. I have no doubt about that — that’s the first thing.”
Secondly — he assessed — “Donald Tusk has unequivocally confirmed that he has completely discredited himself.”
Surveillance of Tomasz Sakiewicz
Asked about Bartosz Kownacki’s remarks, Śliwka recalled how the election campaign looked and how the security apparatus was used during it.
“We all saw what the election campaign looked like. We all saw how the current ruling team used the security services instrumentally. How they acted during President Nawrocki’s campaign. How officers — such as the heads of SKW and ABW — created files and attacked their political opponents. We are living in a state where the special services, instead of taking care of our security, are busy carrying out political attacks.”
He continued:
“Two guys paid by the Kremlin cross the Polish–Belarusian border, blow up railway tracks, return to Belarus, and Prime Minister Tusk, Siemoniak and Kierwiński say that the state passed the test. Passed what test? That is why they are looking for substitute topics. That is why they attack TV Republika, why they attack journalists.” — Śliwka said.
He added:
“Today we can clearly see that for this bad, discredited, corrupt government, the problem is TV Republika — because it tells the truth. Tusk took over the public media to close the system. To ensure that no other media would report on what he is doing — all the scams, the theft, the enormous deficit, the hole in the National Health Fund. They wanted to eliminate free media; they wanted the remaining media to be friendly to those in power. That is why you are such a burden to them.”
“I have no doubt that the current government is using instruments it should not be using against journalists who are independent and who scrutinize this government.” — he emphasized.
In his view, “it is no coincidence that Siemoniak, Kierwiński, Tusk are back — and once again, journalists are being persecuted. This is how they operate. They are authoritarians, and we must be aware of that.”