Tag: Law and Justice

As incredible as it may seem in the current climate, with most of Europe on lockdown and national elections cancelled in Serbia and North Macedonia, Poland appears determined to go ahead with its presidential vote, set to be held on May 10. A second round, if needed, would take place two weeks later

Some 25 countries have decided to postpone their upcoming elections, with the last few – mostly regional or in tiny states – being held in early March.

Comments about Joanna Liсhoсka’s inappropriate conduct in the Sejm are not subsiding. The MP had the chance to admire a billboard immortalising her unparliamentary gesture. At present, funds are being raised for the production of new advertising banners. PLN 215,000 – that’s how much money has been donated so far to a fundraising campaign to […]

The 2020 Winter Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), held on 27-31 January 2020 in Strasbourg, was dominated by two topics: the returning of voting rights to Russia (which ODF strongly campaigned against), which was suspended following its annexation of Crimea and invasion of Ukraine, and the worsening situation in regard to the rule of law in Poland.

As is by now tradition for us, we were proud to be present during the 2020 Winter Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, held on 27-31 January 2020 in Strasbourg, France. Our delegation consisted of ODF President Lyudmyla Kozlovska, Kazakhstani activist from the ‘Qaharman’ human rights movement Dana Zhanay and Polish persecuted judge Dominik Czeszkiewicz from the Suwałki District Court.

In light of the ongoing assault on the independence of the judiciary in Poland by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party – and especially the recently-exposed hate campaign against judges and prosecutors, orchestrated by the justice ministry itself – the Renew Europe group and the Open Dialogue Foundation have organised on December 12th, 2019, a European Parliament lunch debate with prosecutors and judges persecuted in Poland.

ODF is proud to have organised a high-level mission to Brussels of the most famous “disobedient” Polish judges & prosecutors – the leading victims of the systemic persecution & defamation of the independent judiciary in the country: judges Waldemar Żurek & Dariusz Mazur and prosecutors Krzysztof Parchimowicz & Ewa Wrzosek.

On Thursday, 12 December 2019, the European Parliament held a conference entitled „The Law and Justice Campaign against the Polish Judiciary”, organised by the Renew Europe group and the Open Dialogue Foundation. The event found reverberation in the Polish media, both pro-government and independent.

During a press conference on 11 October 2019, representatives and proxies of ODF presented 20 lawsuits filed against pro-government politicians, journalists, activists and media organisations in connection with a “mass propaganda campaign” they were supposed to launch against the Foundation.

Let me tell you how I feel as a foreigner married to a Pole perceived by the Polish authorities as their public enemy, after my family and I have gone through real hell caused by the ruling Law and Justice Party. On 5 September the Regional Administrative Court in Warsaw reversed the decisions issued by […]

Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party doesn’t shy away from the authoritarian playbook to secure their power. While the battle with the European Commission over the rule of law rages on, PiS is discreetly trying to tweak electoral law in their favour.

Last week – not for the first time, and probably not the last – I have been met by a wave of hatred from the right-wing community. All because we decided, together with the delegation of the Open Dialogue Foundation, to hold a series of meetings in Washington, which, by accident, overlapped with the visit of President Duda.

In connection with the meetings of the Parliamentary Committees for Special Services and the EU of 25 April 2019 at which the issue of our organisation, ODF, was raised, as well as numerous media attacks by Law and Justice politicians, we would like to refer to the allegations made against us.

On 8 May 2019 in Warsaw, we held a debate on the politics of hate and attacks in the public sphere in Poland. The attendance success of the event exceeded our expectations — the audience, including media representatives, numbered around 100 people, leaving the 50-seat hall bursting at the seams. We apologise most sincerely for […]

The event titled “The Politics of Hate and Harassment in the Public Sphere – How to Counter Them?” was held on 8 May this year at the Wilcza Conference Centre in Warsaw. The debate, which was organised and hosted by the Open Dialogue Foundation, attracted a sizable turnout, including about 90 people in the audience, […]