Wąsik guilty. “Used defamation in the political interest of his party”

23 February 2024 | Author: Izabela Alberczyk

A Judgment has been handed down in the Maciej Wąsik case. The court of second instance ruled that the Law and Justice (PiS) politician violated the personal interests of the Open Dialogue Foundation. “Wąsik used defamation in the political interest of his own party,” commented the Chair of the Foundation’s Supervisory Board, Bartosz Kramek in an interview with wp.pl and announced that this was not the end due to the personal aspect of other cases involving the politician.

As reported by Wirtualna Polska, on Friday 23 February, the Court of Appeal in Warsaw announced its decision in the case against Maciej Wąsik, who had been sued by the Open Dialogue Foundation. The court upheld the decision of the Regional Court in Warsaw. The trial concerned the violation of personal rights of the Foundation.

“As the court already noted in the first instance, Wąsik had used defamation in the political interest of his own party. During the previous court hearings, he tried to soften the tone of his words and hid behind failures to recall. Earlier, he had referred to secret documents of the Internal Security Agency (ABW) and supported the ‘pasquinade’ revelations of the pro-government ‘media’, which were intended to justify my wife’s expulsion from Poland – while ignoring the fact that they had been repeatedly refuted by the courts and deemed unreliable by other European Union countries,” commented Bartosz Kramek, Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Open Dialogue Foundation, in an interview with wp.pl.

The case dates back to 2017, when Bartosz Kramek, Lyudmyla Kozlovska’s husband, published a Facebook post criticising the Law and Justice government. As we wrote in Gazeta.pl, shortly afterwards, the then head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Witold Waszczykowski ordered an audit of the Foundation at the request of Mariusz Kamiński. Meanwhile, in August 2018, Lyudmyla Kozlovska was banned from entering Poland and ordered to leave the European Union. The Office for Foreigners entered her in the Schengen Information System (SIS) and marked her with the highest alert. She was deported to Kyiv. In April, the Voivodeship Administrative Court challenged the decisions, and in September stated that the ABW’s materials were “insufficient to make a decision to refuse” to grant Lyudmyla Kozlovska a long-term residence permit in Poland.

Kramek conveyed that the case was personal: “In December, the Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw thwarted the actions undertaken against my wife by ABW and the Head of the Office for Foreigners – institutions subordinate to Kaminski and Wąsik. The Law and Justice (PiS) party had no scruples in turning state institutions into their private playground and abusing their power in a vindictive and repressive way, not only to fight political opponents, but also to quash activists defending the rule of law or refugees at the state border. Wąsik is one of the main executors and the face of this operation,” said Bartosz Kramek.

The Foundation announces that this is not the end. “It is their blood he has on his hands”

The Chair of the Foundation’s Supervisory Board announced that the final judgement came more than four years after the lawsuit was filed and more than five years after the first defamatory statements. “This is just the beginning, our judicial opponent is responsible for numerous abuses, not only from the time of the first PiS government and the early days of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau, but also attacks on individuals and organisations that advocate for the rule of law and human rights. He is responsible for illegal surveillance and the inhumane treatment of refugees on the border with Belarus. It is their blood he has on his hands. And I hope that also for this he will soon be held criminally responsible, together with Kamiński and the whole gang,” said Kramek.

This is not Maciej Wąsik’s first conviction, on 20 December 2023 the Warsaw Regional Court sentenced both him and Mariusz Kamiński to two years’ imprisonment. The case concerned the abuse of powers and illegal operational activities of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau in 2007. At the time, Mariusz Kamiński was the head of the institution and Maciej Wąsik his deputy. The politicians were pardoned by President Andrzej Duda on 23 January this year. For more information, see the article: “Land affair. Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik convicted. There is a court decision”.

Source: gazeta.pl

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Defamation case win against Wąsik. Court hands down final judgement (February 23, 2024)

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