(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has urged Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski to grant journalist Andrzej Marek a presidential pardon. Marek was earlier sentenced to three months in prison with no parole for “defamation”. On 2 March 2004, a court in Szczecin, northwestern Poland, ordered the editor-in-chief of the local weekly “Wiesci Polickie” to present himself at the […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has urged Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski to grant journalist Andrzej Marek a presidential pardon. Marek was earlier sentenced to three months in prison with no parole for “defamation”.
On 2 March 2004, a court in Szczecin, northwestern Poland, ordered the editor-in-chief of the local weekly “Wiesci Polickie” to present himself at the local municipal prison on 23 March to begin serving his three-month sentence. At present, nothing short of a presidential pardon can prevent the journalist from having to serve jail time.
RSF condemned the sentence and called on President Kwasniewski to pardon Marek. “This journalist’s imminent imprisonment is contrary to the recommendations of the United Nations and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which say that prison terms should never be handed down for press offences,” noted Robert Ménard, the organisation’s secretary-general.
“No one will understand that Poland, which does not usually violate press freedom, should lock up a journalist for having written an article, even if it was considered defamatory. At a time when all eyes are turned toward the European Union’s new member states, this case will only serve to tarnish the image of your country and will set an extremely dangerous precedent for European journalists. In the name of press freedom in Europe, we call on you, Mr President, to pardon Mr Marek,” RSF added.
Marek was first sentenced in November 2002 to a suspended prison sentence on condition that he make a public apology to the official who took legal action against him. The sentence was confirmed on appeal in November 2003. Having refused to apologise to the official, Marek was sentenced by Judge Marcin Jedrzejewski to three months in prison with no parole on 6 February 2004.
In an article entitled, “Promotion of Scheming”, which was published in February 2001, the journalist said he suspected Piotr Misilo of using his position to promote the advertising agency that he owned. Misilo was head of communications for the town of Police and the local authorities’ spokesperson at the time.
