The trial of two TVN Turbo journalists, Adam K. and Patryk M., accused of raping two women, began on Tuesday before the District Court in Katowice. The information about the formal start of the proceedings, which are being held behind closed doors, was provided to the media by one of the defense attorneys.
Representatives of the media were not allowed into the building on Koszarowa Street on Tuesday. This is a separate facility of the Katowice court prepared ahead of the trial of the Krakowiak gang in 2021. It is located on the premises of the Police Prevention Units. Entering this building usually requires presenting identification and having participants’ and observers’ personal details recorded by police officers. For some cases, special passes are issued. This time, journalists were not allowed inside. Before the hearing, they saw M. arriving with his attorney, but it is unclear whether K. appeared in court.
“We will not provide any information or comments until the case is concluded” – said attorney Jakub Wende, who also appeared at the Katowice court, in a phone interview.
The court decided in July, during an organizational session, to exclude the public from the proceedings. This is the usual procedure in cases concerning sexual offenses, primarily to protect the victims’ interests.
At the end of June, the Katowice-North District Prosecutor’s Office charged K. and M. with raping two women in an apartment in Katowice in the fall of 2024.
The journalists categorically deny the allegations. Their defense attorneys expressed confidence that the charges against their clients are not supported by evidence. They described the indictment as “devoid of factual and legal justification.”
According to the prosecution, the journalists took advantage of the intoxication of two women, aged 26 and 34, and forced them into sexual intercourse. The alleged events described in the indictment took place in October 2024 in Katowice, where K. and M. had traveled to record another episode of their program.
As reported by the Katowice edition of Gazeta Wyborcza, the journalists met four women in a venue that evening. Shortly before closing time, two of them got into a taxi with the journalists and went to the rented apartment. According to investigators, it was there that the rape allegedly took place. The notification of a suspected crime was filed by one of the friends who entered the apartment; the alleged victims themselves did not want an investigation – GW added.
After the indictment was filed in court and the publications appeared, both journalists responded to the charges in statements posted on Facebook. K. confirmed that he and his colleague had joined a table at the invitation of “a few already tipsy women,” and later accepted an invitation to the apartment.
“And yes – we will both be ashamed of this situation and regret it for the rest of our lives. But no, no, and once again no – absolutely there was no rape – nor any sexual intercourse (as confirmed by experts),” he wrote on Facebook. “I believe rape is one of the most disgusting crimes, and I would never commit such an act. Regardless of the situation. Simply not.”
M. also stated in his own post that the claim of alleged rape was untrue. He assured he had no grievance with the editorial office that reported what it found in the case files, but added that some of the information “was misinterpreted or very important parts of the evidence were omitted.”
“The whole case was initiated by one person who first secretly recorded us, and in the end wanted 10,000 PLN for silence. And it is this person who suspects that her friends might have been harmed. Importantly: they themselves do not make such a claim,” M. added.