Poland

Pressing The Press

“There will be no authoritarianism in Poland, only a fool could believe that. But there will be order which is in the interest of ordinary Poles.” Jaroslaw Kaczynski, head of Law and Justice (PiS), in the Sejm on Friday.

Recently a reporter from the Polish newspaper Fakt made a phone call to Krzysztof Jurgiel the Polish government minister of Agriculture. and, posing as an aide to the millionaire Roman Catholic priest Tadeusz Rydzyk, asked that the Minister send his Polish government limousine to pick up the Priest in Warsaw and drive him to another location in Warsaw. The car was dutifully sent to the location specified and a person poorly disguised as the priest was driven to where he asked in Warsaw.

The event was recorded in the news and received significant press coverage. The Agriculture Minister reimbursed the Polish Government the value of the trip – he calculated the cost of the driver and car at less than $5.00 – and the incident was closed by the government.

Now, however, a member of the Polish delegation to the European Union has placed a claim with the public prosecutor that demands that the reporter be charged with the crime of insulting a government official.

Opposition party (Civic Platform) member Jan Rokita commented that this is in line with a case now being brought against a drunk who was arrested at the Central Station in Warsaw. The drunk allegedly made insulting comments toward the President of Poland. The police filed charges against him for insulting the President.

Is this the “enforcement of order which is in the interest of ordinary Poles?”

Classified Polnews