TVP must broadcast the apology as the first piece of news in “Wiadomości” news service. The court precisely designated the specific time of the broadcast

3 July 2023 | Author: Marta Korycka

Lyudmyla Kozlovska and Bartosz Kramek of the Open Dialogue Foundation have successfully sued TVP for libel. According to the judgment issued by the Court following a four-year trial, Polish Television’s obligations include apologising to the activists at the beginning of its “Wiadomości” news service.

The Foundation dubbed this ruling “an unprecedented judgment issued in the case involving massive rights violations resulting from a smear campaign initiated by Polish Television […] Six years after the first libel was committed, and after four years of proceedings, TVP has been obligated to apologize for their lies and to pay damages,” the Open Dialogue Foundation reported on social media. According to the judgment passed by the court of first instance, in addition to publishing an apology, TVP is also to pay a total of PLN 200,000 in damages.

TVP must issue an apology at 7:30 p.m. sharp. Previously, the TV station had begun broadcasting “Wiadomości” early.

The apology message is to be presented for 60 days at the top of the website, prior to all other content on the “Wiadomości” website, as well as on tvp.info, vod.tvp.pl and on polandin.com. The apology is also expected to appear in the main edition of “Wiadomości” at 7:30 pm as the first news item. The court decided to determine the exact time following a precedent — when the “Wiadomości” editorial board was previously obliged to apologize to a TVN journalist, the programme began five minutes earlier than usual. Therefore, TV viewers who were accustomed to a regular broadcast time and turned on their TV sets for 7:30 p.m. did not actually see the mandated apology.

Disclosing the contents of the judgment as of 13 June, the Open Dialogue Foundation indicated in a post that TVP must apologize for “37 untruthful publications”, and stressed, “this was only a fraction of the several hundred false publications targeting us”. The foundation also commented:

Since the Law and Justice party came to power, TVP has groundlessly accused the Open Dialogue Foundation of “financing its activities with Russian money”, “trying to provoke a bloody Euromaidan in Poland”, “laundering of oligarch money”, or “working for the secret services of Russia, Brussels, Germany and Soros against the Polish authorities”. The actual reason for the persecution by the Polish authorities was our criticism of the government and our defence of independent courts in Poland in the international arena.

What does the Open Dialogue Foundation do?

According to the ODF website, the Foundation was established in Poland in 2009 on the initiative of a Ukrainian student and civic activist Lyudmyla Kozlovska, who currently serves as its president.

“Ever since its inception, the Foundation’s statutory goals have included the protection of human rights, democracy and the rule of law in the post-Soviet area. Initially, the Foundation focused its attention primarily on Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine and – since 2016 – Moldova. However, in July 2017 their area of interest expanded due to the rapidly deteriorating situation in Poland and other EU member states struggling with the consequences of anti-liberal policies pursued by their populist governments,” the activists emphasise.

Source: gazeta.pl

Read also:

Polish state broadcaster TVP forced to apologise and pay damages following court verdict (July 4, 2023)

Other media: