Committee to Protect Journalists - Poland

In Belarus, journalist charged with libeling Lukashenko

2012-07-02T19:37:48Z

New York, July 2, 2012--Andrzej Poczobut, the prominent Grodno-based correspondent for the largest Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, was formally indicted Saturday on criminal charges of libeling President Aleksandr Lukashenko through a series of articles critical of administration policies.

Reporter for Polish paper faces insult charge in Belarus

2011-03-30T20:38:10Z

New York, March 30, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Belarusian authorities today to stop the politically motivated prosecution of Andrzej Poczobut, a prominent correspondent for Poland's largest daily, Gazeta Wyborcza.

On Monday, prosecutors in the western city of Grodno filed criminal charges against Poczobut for allegedly insulting Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko in articles printed in Gazeta Wyborcza and the Belarusian news website Belarussky Partizan beginning in October 2010, local and international press reported. Poczobut faces up to two years in prison if convicted.

Attacks on the Press 2006: Europe Snapshots

2007-02-05T16:33:58Z

Attacks & Developments Throughout the Region

Attacks on the Press 2006: Europe and Central Asia Snapshots

2007-02-05T15:08:00Z

Imprisoned for libel, a Polish journalist is released

2006-01-26T17:00:00Z

New York, January 26, 2006—A Polish journalist convicted in a rare criminal libel prosecution has been freed two days into his prison term after the country's top constitutional court ordered the suspension of his sentence, according to news reports.

Andrzej Marek, editor-in-chief of the weekly Wiesci Polickie in the town of Police, was released from a municipal prison in the northwestern city of Szczecin on January 18. The criminal libel charge stemmed from two February 2001 articles alleging that Piotr Misilo, speaker of the promotion and information unit of the Police City Council, had obtained his post through blackmail and used the position to promote his private advertising business.

Journalist begins 3-month jail term for criminal libel

2006-01-17T17:00:00Z

New York, January 17, 2006— The Committee to Protect Journalists today called the jailing of a Polish journalist for criminal libel an affront to Polish democracy and called on the Polish president to pardon him.

"Poland is now part of democratic Europe and democracies do not jail journalists for criticizing officials," CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper said. "We condemn the jailing of Andrzej Marek and call on President Kaczynski to pardon him immediately. We also call on the Polish authorities to decriminalize libel and leave redress for defamation to the civil courts as in established democracies."

CPJ Update

2006-01-13T05:00:00Z

CPJ Update
The Committee to Protect Journalists
January 13, 2006

Polish journalist to be jailed in rare criminal libel prosecution

2006-01-12T17:00:00Z

New York, January 12, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the imminent jailing of Andrzej Marek, editor-in-chief of the weekly newspaper Wiesci Polickie in the northwestern town of Police. Convicted of libeling a local official in articles published in 2001, Marek is due to begin serving a three-month sentence on Monday, according to CPJ sources.

Attacks on the Press 2004: Europe and Central Asia Analysis

2005-03-14T16:54:00Z

Overview
by Alex Lupis

Authoriatarian rulers strengthened their hold on power in many former Soviet republics in 2004. Their secretive, centralized governments aggressively suppressed all forms of independent activity, from journalism and human rights monitoring to religious activism and political opposition.

Journalist jailed after sentence upheld

2004-06-23T16:00:00Z

New York, June 23, 2004—The Polish Supreme Court yesterday upheld the three-month jail sentence of a journalist found guilty of libeling a local official in November 2003 and ordered that he be jailed immediately.

Andrzej Marek, editor in chief of the weekly Wiesci Polickie (Police News) in the western town of Police, was convicted in November 2003 of libeling Piotr Misilo, then the appointed speaker of the Promotion and Information Unit of the Police City Council, in two articles published in Wiesci Polickie in February 2001. The articles accused Misilo of obtaining his post through blackmail and using it to promote his private advertising business.

Journalists prison sentence postponed following protests

2004-03-23T17:00:00Z

New York, March 23, 2004—The prison sentence of a journalist convicted of libeling a local official has been postponed after a large group of journalists protested the imprisonment.

Andrzej Marek, editor-in-chief of the weekly Wiesci Polickie (Police News) in the western Polish town of Police, was convicted in November 2003 of libeling Piotr Misilo, then the appointed speaker of the Promotion and Information Unit of the Police City Council, in two articles that were published in Wiesci Polickie in February 2001. The articles accused Misilo of obtaining his post through blackmail and using his public post to promote his private advertising business.

Journalist sentenced to three months in prison

2004-02-12T17:00:00Z

New York, February 12, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about Andrzej Marek, editor-in-chief of the weekly Wiesci Polickie (Police News) in the western Polish town of Police, who may be sent to jail for three months for refusing to apologize to a local official who has accused the journalist of defamation. According to local news reports, he has until tomorrow to appeal the court decision.

Attacks on the Press 2001: Poland

2002-03-26T17:03:30Z

Scandal mongering and mudslinging blackened the images of both politicians and the press in 2001, particularly during the run-up to September's parliamentary elections.

The first scandal erupted in January after Rzeczpospolita, a leading Warsaw daily, published a series of investigative pieces on official corruption. Justice Minister Lech Kaczynski accused the paper of conspiring with the Polish Special Services to uncover compromising evidence designed to ruin officials' reputations and force them to resign; the paper denied the charge. Kaczynski implied that the paper's evidence was invalid and opened an investigation to find out who had leaked the compromising information.

Attacks on the Press 2000: Europe & Central Asia Analysis

2001-03-19T17:10:25Z

POLITICAL REFORMS AND ECONOMIC GROWTH, along with the advent of democratic governments in Croatia and Serbia, brightened the security prospects for journalists in Central Europe and the Balkans. In contrast, Russian's new government imposed press restrictions, and authoritarian regimes entrenched themselves in other countries of the former Soviet Union, particularly in Central Asia, further threatening the independent press.

CPJ confirmed that in 2000, five journalists were killed as a result of their reporting in Europe and Central Asia. In Russia, two journalists were killed in Chechnya, and one in Moscow. (CPJ could not confirm the motives for the killings of four other journalists in Russia during the year.) In Ukraine, the disappearance and murder of Internet journalist Georgy Gongadze highlighted the extreme vulnerability of independent journalists in that country. And in a rare Western European case, a Spanish journalist was killed in response to his coverage of the Basque separatist group ETA.

Attacks on the Press 2000: Poland

2001-03-19T17:03:00Z

LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS CONTINUED IN 2000, as Poland moved closer to joining the European Union. While journalists struggled under longstanding legal burdens, new court rulings favored press freedom, and legislation was drafted to improve access to information.

Meanwhile, one violent attack against a journalist was recorded, and the political opposition alleged that the state television network was biased in favor of the government.