On 4 December 2024, the Regional Court in Warsaw ordered Polish Radio to issue a lengthy apology and pay PLN 200,000 in compensation to the Open Dialogue Foundation for numerous defamatory statements made during the rule of the Law and Justice (PiS) party.
A judgment has been delivered in the lawsuit concerning the violation of personal rights filed by the Foundation in 2019. Polish Radio has been ordered to publish a series of apologies on its websites, including foreign language services managed by the broadcaster’s international editorial office. The Foundation and its management – Lyudmyla Kozlovska and Bartosz Kramek – pointed to deliberate defamatory attacks orchestrated by Polish Radio. This campaign was based on disinformation and dubious sources, and included, inter alia, allegations of ties with Russia, suspicious financing,money laundering, and acting to the detriment of Polish national interest. Numerous politicians from the Law and Justice Party (PiS) took part in this campaign, appearing as guests on the radio.
“JSC “Polskie Radio” with its registered office in Warsaw hereby apologises to Ms. Lyudmyla Kozlovska and Mr. Bartosz Kramek for infringing their personal rights, in particular their dignity, including their reputation, and the Open Dialogue Foundation with its registered office in Warsaw (KRS: 0000353754) and Silk Road Biuro Analiz i Informacji Ltd. with its registered office in Warsaw (KRS: 0000416937) for infringing their personal rights, in particular right to a good name, including good reputation, as well as the right to protect their image in the form of its symbolising brand through disseminating damaging, inaccurate and false information in numerous publications posted on the websites of www.thenews.pl. This statement is published as a result of lost court litigation.”
“Polish Radio was one of the leading propaganda centres of the rightly defunct government. It spread fake news in an extremely aggressive manner and, since 2017, has consistently slandered us, accusing us of the worst motives and crimes. This was retaliation for our actions in defence of the rule of law in Poland. We hope that the new management of Polish Radio will act honourably and will not defend the scandalous practices of their predecessors, and will take responsibility for those practices,” comments Bartosz Kramek.
“Such slanderous comments were particularly harmful as they were spread in many languages and heavily affected the Foundation’s international operations. In addition to the reputational damage, we have also been facing problems with banks and our donors. The compensation will not make up for such damage. We have won the case, but the battle was extremely long and costly. Neither Polish nor EU laws provide for effective mechanisms to protect one’s reputation. This has to change,” adds Lyudmyla Kozlovska.
The case was handled by attorneys Maciej Lach and Dawid Biernat.
The judgment is not final. The Foundation and its representatives have already won similar lawsuits against numerous PiS politicians and pro-government media, including Maciej Wąsik, Joachim Brudziński, Tomasz Sakiewicz (twice 1,2), Dominik Tarczyński, Patryk Jaki, Witold Waszczykowski and Telewizja Polska.
In December 2024, the prosecutor’s office in Lublin discontinued the investigation against Bartosz Kramek. The activist was accused of making false statements and money laundering. The proceedings were supervised by Jerzy Ziarkiewicz – a prosecutor currently suspended from office, known for conducting politically motivated investigations on behalf of the PiS government. After charges were brought in 2021, Kramek spent three weeks in custody.
Lyudmyla Kozlovska, a Ukrainian citizen, was declared undesirable in Poland in 2018 on the basis of a secret opinion by the head of the Internal Security Agency (ABW). After a series of court rulings and a change of government, the entry ban was lifted, and the Internal Security Agency admitted that the president of the Foundation and Kramek’s wife did not pose a threat to state security or public order.
The organisation came into conflict with the PiS government after speaking out in defence of judicial independence in 2017.
The Open Dialogue Foundation is committed to the defence of human rights, rule of law and democracy, and provides humanitarian aid to Ukraine. In April last year, it was declared an undesirable organisation in Russia.
In the media:
- Press: Polish Radio to pay PLN 200,000 in compensation to the Open Dialogue Foundation (21 February 2025)
- PAP: Polskie Radio to apologise to Open Dialogue Foundation (21 February 2025)
Read about other lawsuits:
- Dominik Tarczyński’s late-night apology. MEP loses lawsuit against Open Dialogue Foundation (8 January 2025)
- Polish prosecution drops case against Bartosz Kramek. End of politically motivated criminal proceedings (15 December2024)
- Witold Waszczykowski’s debacle. Court orders apologies (7 June 2024)
- Defamation case win against Wąsik. Court hands down final judgement (23 February2024)
- Libel case win against Balli Marzec over hate speech and fake news lawsuit (26 January 2024)
- Unprecedented court order to remove Lyudmyla Kozlovska’s Polish entry ban (25 January 2024)
- Joachim Brudziński loses libel case over ‘money laundering’ claim (3 August 2023)
- Polish state broadcaster TVP forced to apologise and pay damages following court verdict (4 July 2023)
- Nazi “Gazeta Polska“ cover: Appeal court orders Tomasz Sakiewicz apology (23 August 2022)
- Maciej Wąsik loses libel case over Foundation’s ‘ties to Russia’ claim. Court ordered apologies (5 August 2022)
- Marcin Rey’s apology. Court settlement concludes the dispute (11 March 2023)
- ODF wins court case against Dominik Tarczyński MEP (15 August 2022)
- The Supreme Administrative Court: The ban on Lyudmyla Kozlovska’s entry into Poland is unjustified (9 December 2022)
- 3:0 for Lyudmyla Kozlovska. Another court victory against Law & Justice party (19 April 2021)
- Polish Radio executes interim measure re. ODF (6 May 2020)
- 20 lawsuits filed against Law and Justice. Interim measure against TVP (11 October 2019)
