(IPI/IFEX) – The following is an IPI statement: IPI Board Resolution on Presspublica At the Board Meeting of the International Press Institute (IPI) held in Salzburg on 13 September 2003, the IPI Board unanimously passed a resolution condemning the continued legal persecution and harassment by the Polish authorities of Presspublica Sp. z o.o., the publishing […]
(IPI/IFEX) – The following is an IPI statement:
IPI Board Resolution on Presspublica
At the Board Meeting of the International Press Institute (IPI) held in Salzburg on 13 September 2003, the IPI Board unanimously passed a resolution condemning the continued legal persecution and harassment by the Polish authorities of Presspublica Sp. z o.o., the publishing company of the Rzeczpospolita daily in Warsaw, Poland, that have continued for two years now.
Since the resolution of the IPI Board, dated 23 November 2002, several new worrying events have occurred.
1. The Public Prosecutor has decided to reopen an investigation of allegations that the members of the Management Board of Presspublica Sp. z o.o. had acted to the detriment of the company. Damage is alleged to have been caused to the company by the payment of financial compensation to the editor-in-chief of the Rzeczpospolita daily upon his dismissal in 2000. On 16 June 2003, Grzegorz Gauden, President of the Management Board of Presspublica Sp. z o.o., and Elzbieta Ponikio, Vice-president of the Management Board, were interrogated at the Warsaw-Ochota District Police Station. The proceedings in this case were already discontinued in December 2002, after it was found that there were no “signs of actions forbidden by law” in this case.
2. On 10 July 2003, the Prosecutor’s Office of the “Ochota” District in Warsaw made a charge against Maciej Lukasiewicz, the Rzeczpospolita daily editor-in-chief. According to the prosecutor in charge of the proceedings, the Rzeczpospolita daily editor-in-chief failed to publish adjustments to texts and answers to the statements.
The Rzeczpospolita daily editor-in-chief did not plead guilty and refused to provide any explanations on this matter.
3. On 27 March 2003, a consortium consisting of Rzepa Holding S.A. (the company established by the management for Presspublica staff) and Presspublica Holding Norway AS (a subsidiary of ORKLA PRESS AS) submitted a proposal to the PPW Rzeczpospolita State Publishers, Prime Minister and Minister of State Treasury to acquire a 49 per cent stake in Presspublica Sp. z o.o. In his letter dated 16 April 2003, sent to the Norwegian shareholder, the director of PPW Rzeczpospolita State Publishers stated that he reserved the right to make an offer to acquire shares in Presspublica Sp. z o.o. from the majority shareholder, PHN. Such a declaration made by the director of a state enterprise in practice boils down to an intention of renationalising the Rzeczpospolita daily.
From IPI’s perspective, the facts present a picture of some of the Polish authorities using their legal resources (in public and private law) to gain editorial control over the Rzeczpospolita daily to the extent that it falls under the government’s influence.
In view of the actions of the prosecutor’s office, IPI strongly believes that the cases against the members of Management Board of Presspublica Sp. z o.o. and the editor-in-chief of Rzeczpospolita daily might be motivated by the political decision to force the Orkla Media Group, the majority shareholder, through its subsidiary Presspublica Holding Norway (PHN), to sell its shareholding in Presspublica Sp. z o.o. The measure guaranteeing the independence of the Rzeczpospolita daily is the instant privatisation of the state shareholding.
As stated in the IPI resolution dated 23 September 2002, IPI calls on the Polish authorities to halt its prosecution of the editor-in-chief of the Rzeczpospolita daily and the Management Board of Presspublica Sp. z o.o. The IPI Board would encourage the Polish government to take decisive and quick steps to resolve this situation immediately.
Finally, the IPI Board wishes to bring this case officially to the attention of the Steering Committee on Mass Media of the Council of Europe.
