The Małopolska Branch of the Department for Organized Crime and Corruption of the National Prosecutor’s Office in Kraków continues to investigate campaign spots recorded by the Akcja Demokracja Foundation during last year’s presidential campaign. They targeted the image of Karol Nawrocki and Sławomir Mentzen and, moreover, were funded from abroad, which is not permitted under the Electoral Code. The prosecution has questioned, among others, Rafał Trzaskowski – the beneficiary of the social media campaign.
During the 2025 election campaign, one of the dominant topics just before the first round of voting was aggressive Facebook ads published by the profiles “Wiesz Jak Nie Jest” and “Stół Dorosłych”. The hate-driven ads were sponsored by the Akcja Demokracja foundation, headed by activist Jakub Kocjan – known for protests against President Andrzej Duda and the governments of Law and Justice (PiS). The materials promoted Rafał Trzaskowski while forcefully attacking Karol Nawrocki and Sławomir Mentzen. Importantly, these were not official campaign ads marked as materials of the electoral committee of the Civic Platform (KO) candidate for president. This may have been the first violation of the law.
Over PLN 400,000 for a hate campaign in breach of the law
A second allegation, confirmed among others by NASK, concerned foreign funds transferred to the organizers of the online hate campaign. The operator of fundraising and payments in the internet campaign targeting right-wing presidential candidates was – as established by wp.pl – the company Estratos Digital GmbH, based in Vienna, previously operating under the name Datadat. Its management included members of the Hungarian left. The majority shareholder of Estratos was a fund linked to the U.S. Democratic Party. Estratos provided communication and technological services to Akcja Demokracja on Facebook and was also responsible for the fundraising aspect. The online campaign, which lasted about two months, cost more than PLN 400,000. No other candidate had a comparable budget for online activity.
The investigation into the illegal financing of Trzaskowski’s campaign was launched after the second round of elections, in June 2025. As learned from the Kraków prosecutor’s office, it is still ongoing and has been extended by six months.
“The investigation was initiated into the acceptance and use, between an unspecified date in February or March 2025 and an unspecified date in May 2025, in Kraków and other locations, of monetary funds in the amount of at least PLN 400,000, which may have originated from a crime, by allocating them to payments related to the recording of advertising spots connected with the presidential election campaign conducted in Poland at that time, as well as to payments related to their dissemination via the Facebook social media platform using the profiles ‘Wiesz Jak Nie Jest’ and ‘Stół Dorosłych’, i.e. an offense under Article 299 § 1 of the Penal Code”, the National Prosecutor’s Office told TV Republika.
Trzaskowski and his campaign team questioned
Over the past year, the proceedings have included the questioning of Rafał Trzaskowski and members of his campaign team. It should be recalled that the Civic Platform (KO) candidate and other politicians of the ruling party assured that they had nothing to do with the Akcja Demokracja campaign, although they shared videos attacking Nawrocki and Mentzen on their social media profiles.
“During the investigation, documentation related to the case is being collected, and individuals with relevant knowledge are being questioned as witnesses. A number of witnesses have been questioned, including members of Rafał Trzaskowski’s campaign team as well as the candidate himself. A European Investigation Order has also been issued, along with requests for legal assistance to several countries, including the United States, Ukraine, Slovenia, and Hungary”, the prosecution informed Niezalezna.
“Witness hearings are ongoing, and we are awaiting the execution of the aforementioned legal assistance requests and the European Investigation Order. The proceedings are being conducted in rem (without charges). The investigation has been extended until December 9, 2026”, said Prosecutor Przemysław Nowak, spokesperson for the National Prosecutor’s Office, in response to questions from Niezalezna. As he added, “we are not informing the public about the findings at this stage”.
A European Investigation Order is a legal instrument used in investigations that allows a national prosecutor or court to gather evidence in another European Union country. This may include requests for searches, witness questioning, or securing documents outside Poland.
“Your vote matters” – case discontinued
One investigation concerning campaign spots from 2025 has recently been discontinued. Niezalezna reported that the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw, at the end of May, refused to initiate an investigation into the foundation “Your vote matters,” which conducted a hate campaign online during the presidential elections. Among the donors to this entity were the Polish Business Roundtable Foundation, as well as foundations linked to ORLEN and PKO BP, along with numerous real estate companies. The online campaign, financed by state-owned companies – and thus taxpayers – cost PLN 900,000.
“For a year, investigators from the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw were considering what to do with the case and ultimately decided to refuse to initiate an investigation. We obtained this document. It is signed by Prosecutor Monika Harasim. It contains a bizarre justification for the refusal. The key argument – that the Supreme Court recognized the election of Karol Nawrocki, so there is no case, as there was no benefit to Trzaskowski’s campaign either. ‘The notification does not indicate whether any unfavorable disposal of property took place, nor how representatives of the aforementioned foundations (Orlen and PKO) were supposed to act to the detriment of the companies and which companies’ – the prosecution claims in the document”, Niezalezna reported.