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Warsaw, 12 February 2024 Adam BodnarProsecutor General of the Republic of PolandMinister of Justice Public appeal for a review of politically motivated prosecutions from 2015-2023 and the rehabilitation of victims As a person of unquestionable authority in the defence of human rights and the rule of law, your appointment as Minister of Justice and Prosecutor […]

1. How did the parliamentary elections pan out? Following the parliamentary elections in October 2023, the political situation in Poland has changed substantially. According to the final count by the National Electoral Commission, turnout reached a record-setting 74.4%. In the lower house, the Sejm, the opposition, secured 248 seats, compared to the Law and Justice […]

Preface Since the Law and Justice (PiS)-led United Right Coalition [Composed of PiS and its two junior partners – Solidarna Polska (United Poland, led by the Justice Minister/Prosecutor General Zbigniew Ziobro) and, until August 2021, Porozumienie Jarosława Gowina (Jarosław Gowin’s Agreement)] took power in 2015, an unprecedented politicisation of the public prosecution has occurred, which has […]

This case study is an extended and updated description of the case of Przemysław Krych, which was originally included in the “Entrepreneurs and Executives” section of the report “Polish Public Prosecutor’s Office: Selected Cases of Malicious Prosecution and Dereliction of Duties since 2015”, published by the Open Dialogue Foundation and the “Themis” Association of Judges in February 2022.

Executive summary On 31 October 2022, a newly created, supposed NGO, the Institute for European Integrity (IEI), published an entry for the Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF) as part of its “NGO Watchlist.” IEI labelled the Foundation as an organisation with alleged “strong links to individual(s) sanctioned or criminally prosecuted by a European Union, United States […]

Since the Law and Justice (PiS)-led United Right coalition took power in 2015, we have witnessed an unprecedented level of politicisation of the public prosecution service, which has been transformed into a tool serving political and personal interests of the ruling camp and its members. This resulted in a growing number of politically motivated cases of investigations carried out primarily against those regarded as opponents of the government.

The below case is an extended version of a case presented in our upcoming report entitled “Polish Public Prosecutor’s Office: Selected Cases of Malicious Prosecution and Dereliction of Duties since 2015”, published with the cooperation of the Themis Judges’ Association, the Racist and Xenophobic Behaviour Monitoring Centre (OMZRiK) and ObyPomoc – Obywatele RP. The GetBack […]

1. Foreword The independence of the judiciary in Poland has been systematically dismantled over the last six years, during which previously independent bodies, referred to as safety fuses of democracy, have been brought under political control by the ruling camp (such as the Constitutional Tribunal and the National Council of the Judiciary). At the same […]

1. Summary The Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF), founded in 2009 in Poland, is a European NGO fighting for human rights, democracy and the rule of law in the post-Soviet area and, more recently, within the EU, focusing on stopping the rise of authoritarianism and the far-right in states like Poland and Hungary. Before 2017 the Foundation was known […]

Bartosz Kramek’s involvement in the defence of the rule of law and supporting civil society in Poland started with his 2017 Facebook post, listing his recommendations for peaceful civil disobedience actions against the increasingly-authoritarian PiS government. His most notable achievements include: As a leader of the Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF): Coordinating the largest Polish support […]

Following the detention of our Supervisory Board Chair Bartosz Kramek in June 2021, the pro-government and public media further intensified their smear campaign against him and ODF.  In response to a public appeal in support of Kramek, initiated by former Polish president Lech Wałęsa, Stanisław Żaryn, the spokesperson of the Minister-Coordinator for Special Services, personally […]

Since the Law and Justice (PiS)-led United Right coalition (composed of PiS and its two minor partners – Solidarna Polska and Porozumienie) took power in 2015, we have witnessed an unprecedented level of politicization of the public prosecution service that has been transformed into a tool serving political and personal interests of the ruling camp and its members. This resulted in a growing number of politically motivated cases of investigations carried out against those regarded as opponents of the government. The continuous changes to the criminal justice system (Criminal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure, Law on the Prosecutor’s Service) expand the powers of the prosecution, amplifying the so-called inequality of arms between the sides of the criminal proceedings and a general repressiveness of the system.

The Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF) is a human rights NGO established in 2009 in Poland, with its headquarters in Brussels since 2018. Before 2017 the Foundation was known in Poland for its support delivered to Ukraine during the Euromaidan revolution and in response to Russian aggression. In 2017 the NGO took a stance in defence […]

In defence of freedom of assembly and the rights of protestors We, citizens of the Republic of Poland and the European Union, oppose the violence of the Polish police against participants in peaceful pro-democracy protests and the impunity of officers who break the law.  After the political camp centred around the Law and Justice (PiS) […]

The Public Prosecutor’s Office has accused Bartosz Kramek, an activist and the Chairman of the Foundation’s Supervisory Board, of “laundering money originating from the crime of a false statement”. What was not elaborated upon was the content of the false statement, the issue of which invoices were issued and why the company’s transparent and publicly […]