A demonstration defending media outlets associated with the Free Speech Zone (SWS Media – ed.) took place in Kraków on Thursday. Participants expressed outrage over recent actions by the authorities. “We cannot allow free media to be eliminated,” declared Ryszard Majdzik, a co-organizer of the event and former opposition figure from the communist era.
On May 30, the District Police Command Warsaw IV requested that the publisher of Gazeta Polska (Independent Polish Publishing House) provide documentation detailing the distribution of expenditures from funds obtained through the Independent Media Foundation, with a deadline of three days. “Our lawyers have indicated that these actions are unlawful,” said Piotr Nisztor during a TV Republika broadcast.
Thursday’s protest in Kraków was organized in defense of the Free Speech Zone and its head, Tomasz Sakiewicz. Reporter Dawid Helsner, present at the demonstration, reported live for TV Republika, describing an atmosphere dominated by anger and indignation among participants gathered at Plac Jana Matejki.
“Plac Jana Matejki in Kraków is a site connected not only with the city’s history but also with freedom of speech, especially now, as Donald Tusk and his government attack independent media, Republika, and independent journalism. This location frequently hosts rallies, demonstrations, and actions defending, above all, TV Republika,” Helsner noted.
Former communist-era opposition activist Ryszard Majdzik, who co-organized the protest, condemned the police’s demands as unlawful.
“They’re overstepping boundaries without the prosecutor’s involvement… What is this? It is a lawless state, and we cannot permit that. We cannot allow the elimination of free media, especially Republika. Today’s protest illustrates our determination to defend our media and the journalists of the Free Speech Zone,” Majdzik emphasized.