PROTEST
Donald Tusk, Prime Minister of Poland,
Adam Bodnar, Minister of Justice, Poland
April 10, 2025
We protest with the utmost indignation and determination against the unprecedented and illegal attempt on April 9, 2025, by the Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw and announced by Judge Barbara Kołodziejczak-Osetek, to revoke the broadcasting licenses granted to Republika Television and Television in Poland 24 in accordance with applicable law by the National Broadcasting Council.
We believe that this decision, formally taken in the first instance, is part of an increasingly visible, disturbing, and unacceptable tendency to instrumentalize the judiciary and state administration to fight independent media and suppress voices critical of the current government, which is particularly outrageous during the ongoing presidential campaign.
The attempt to silence free media – independent, often inconvenient for those in power, but acting in accordance with the law and in the interest of citizens – is a clear violation of democratic values that constitute the foundation of both the Republic of Poland and the international community of which Poland is a part.
We appeal to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice to:
- immediately condemn this act of abuse of judicial power,
- ensure full constitutional protection of freedom of speech and media freedom in Poland, and
- bring consequences to people who openly act to harm the legal order and Poland’s image in the international arena.
Poland belongs to its citizens – both those in the country and abroad. We Poles scattered around the world will not remain passive in the face of illegal actions that threaten Poles’ freedom, democracy, and media independence.
There is no consent to gag the free media!
There is no consent to lawlessness under the guise of law!
Kind regards,
Polonia Institute
