“I have been convicted for writing the truth. For exposing Grodzki’s corrupt past—and for that I am now being held accountable. There is no other way to interpret this,” said journalist Tomasz Duklanowski after the second-instance verdict in the case brought against him by former Senate Speaker Tomasz Grodzki.
On Monday, the District Court in Warsaw upheld the first-instance verdict in a private prosecution filed by former Senate Speaker Tomasz Grodzki against journalist Tomasz Duklanowski. The case concerned the journalist’s publications about the so-called “envelope scandal.” Duklanowski was sentenced to a fine of 300 daily rates (worth PLN 40 each) and ordered to pay compensatory damages of PLN 8,000. He is also to bear the greater part of the court costs.
The journalist commented on the court’s decision on the air of Telewizja Republika. “Despite everything, I was counting on justice in court—and unfortunately I was wrong,” he said. In his view, the ruling is “scandalous, unjust, and unfair.”
“When you go to court, you do so with the sense that if you present truthful material—if you present evidence confirming that the articles you wrote are based on truth and reality—you can count on a fair verdict. Unfortunately, I miscalculated,” he stated.
In his opinion, in cases of this kind a judge’s political views have a significant impact on the outcome. He noted that he had reached dozens of witnesses who said that Grodzki had taken bribes, including in statements made to CBA officers and to prosecutors—after being instructed about the consequences of giving false testimony.
“I have been convicted for writing the truth. For exposing Grodzki’s corrupt past—and for that I am now being held accountable. There is no other way to interpret this,” he declared.
A Similar Case, a Different Verdict
The case was also commented on by Tomasz Sakiewicz, president of Republika, who was acquitted by the court in November 2025 in a similar case in which he presented the same evidence. In his view, the court disregarded the evidentiary material both in that case and in the proceedings brought against Grodzki by the prosecution.
“The president of the court that tried Tomasz Duklanowski is a person unlawfully holding that office, because she should have retired upon reaching retirement age and, in effect, in collusion with the Ministry of Justice—without the consent of the relevant authorities—extended her term and continues to hold the position, influencing judicial panels,” he said.
He recalled that some of the charges against Duklanowski have certainly become time-barred. “Today there was a powerful blow struck against the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Criminal Code, and basic standards of decency—and it was done in a court whose president unlawfully holds her position,” he added.
The Envelope Scandal
The envelope scandal was exposed by Tomasz Duklanowski at the turn of 2019 and 2020. According to the investigative journalist from Gazeta Polska, the corrupt practice at the Szczecin-Zdunowo hospital had been ongoing for 20 years.
“The case concerns publications recounting the testimonies of former patients of Prof. Grodzki from the period when he served as the hospital’s director and department head in Szczecin-Zdunowo. According to many patients and their families, quoted by the journalist, the doctor was allegedly accepting financial benefits from them. Grodzki consistently denies all allegations and is demanding compensation from Duklanowski,” reported the Press Freedom Monitoring Center of the Polish Journalists Association, which is monitoring the trial.