Search results

Sort

GW: Kramek, you’ll never walk alone. Why does the arrest come now?

16 July 2021

19 people came to the District Court in Lublin to post PLN 300 thousand bail for Bartosz Kramek. – As I was leaving the jail, a prison guard wished me “good luck fighting the regime”. — I am grateful to all those who vouched for me, verbally and financially. Thank you and let’s keep fighting. […]

President Lech Wałęsa’s appeal to release Bartosz Kramek

14 July 2021

We are writing to express our deep concern about the detention of Mr Bartosz Kramek, a Polish activist and the Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF), a Poland-based international NGO on the frontlines of the fight for the rule of law in the country.

Appeal Against Police Violence and Impunity in Poland

13 July 2021

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) […]

Polish Civil Society Under Assault: Chair of ODF’s Supervisory Board detained on fabricated charges

24 June 2021

On the 23rd of June 2021, at 11:00, Bartosz Kramek, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Open Dialogue Foundation, was detained by Internal Security Agency officers, at the request of the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Lublin. After his detainment, he was transported from Warsaw to Lublin to be presented with “charges” and questioned. The […]

ODF’s input to the 2021 annual Club of Venice plenary meeting

11 June 2021

This year’s meeting, on June 10-11th, was hosted virtually by the government of Serbia, with support from the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Belgium. It was simultaneously interpreted into French and Serbian.

3:0 for ODF. Another victory in court for the Foundation against PiS

19 April 2021

The Provincial Administrative Court (WSA) ordered the Head of the Office for Foreigners (UdsC) to produce a substantive assessment of the rationale behind the entry ban instated on Lyudmyla Kozlovska. Thus, the Law and Justice (PiS) government suffered its third defeat in court in its dispute with the President of the Open Dialogue Foundation before the […]

PACE resolution on the independence of judges and ODF – debunking

2 April 2021

Following our support of the Resolution on the independence of judges, adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on January 26th, ODF became a target for representatives of the Polish PiS government, whose actions were harshly criticised in the Resolution. PiS MP Arkadiusz Mularczyk, supported by British Conservative Ian Liddell-Grainger, initiated a […]

Prosecutorial standards in Poland are closer to those in Belarus than in the EU. ODF’s hearing for MEPs with persecuted Polish prosecutors

5 March 2021

On 4 March 2021 we organised an online hearing for Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), European Parliament advisors and selected journalists under the title “Law and Justice’s Crackdown on Independent Prosecutors in Poland Intensifies”, featuring persecuted Polish independent prosecutors from the Lex Super Omnia association – Katarzyna Kwiatkowska, Jacek Bilewicz and Ewa Wrzosek – […]

Prosecutorial standards in Poland are closer to those in Belarus than in the EU. ODF’s hearing for MEPs with persecuted Polish prosecutors

5 March 2021

On 4 March 2021 we organised an online hearing for Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), European Parliament advisors and selected journalists under the title “Law and Justice’s Crackdown on Independent Prosecutors in Poland Intensifies”, featuring persecuted Polish independent prosecutors from the Lex Super Omnia association – Katarzyna Kwiatkowska, Jacek Bilewicz and Ewa Wrzosek – […]

Polish & Moldovan judges must remain independent. A firm resolution adopted by PACE

26 February 2021

On 28 January 2021, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution on judges in Poland and the Republic of Moldova. The resolution, resulting from ODF’s advocacy efforts back in 2018, urges the countries’ authorities to uphold the rule of law and ensure judicial independence. Prior to passing the resolution the Assembly voted on a series of amendments. Three out of five of the amendments that ODF’s team has helped to draw up and advocated for, further detailing the Polish government’s rule of law breaches, were accepted by an overwhelming majority.

TVP complies with court order in ODF case

2 February 2021

Another victory for the Open Dialogue Foundation – Telewizja Polska S.A. was forced to remove from its website some of the materials that violated our personal rights and to post statements about our lawsuit, which publication was ordered by the District Court in Warsaw. TVP has thereby complied with the court order giving us temporary relief […]

A Breach Too Far: Call to the EC on the Assault on Judges Adjudicating on Prosecutor Krasoń’s Case

28 January 2021

In the latest instance of the Polish authorities’ open disregard for the rule of law, 14 Cracow judges have been exposed to politicised prosecution and investigations. Their alleged crime? Handing down judgments which were inconvenient for the authorities and failing to persecute Prosecutor Krasoń – a staunch defender of the independence of the judiciary.  This […]

It’s time to take stock: how we fought for the rule of law in Poland in 2020

28 December 2020

The tumultuous year 2020 is coming to an end. It is time to sum up what we have managed to do in the fight for the rule of law in Poland. The pandemic was not an easy time – forced austerity and accelerated adaptation to new conditions. We closed our offices and moved our democracy […]

ODF’s Appeal to OSCE to stop policing speech in Poland

13 November 2020

On 9 November 2020, during the Second Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting (SHDM), our advocacy officer, Katarzyna Szczypska, urged the OSCE bodies to pressure the Polish authorities to stop using blasphemy laws to police speech.

ODF holds online hearing for MEPs with persecuted Polish judges

9 October 2020

On October 8, 2020 we had the pleasure of organising an online hearing for Members of the European Parliament under the title “How should the EU support the Polish judiciary?”, featuring persecuted Polish judges Beata Morawiec and Dariusz Mazur, with additional expertise provided by Prof. Laurent Pech. The event was co-hosted by MEPs Róza Thun […]