Tag: Poland

On 13.09.2017, at the National Stadium in Warsaw, during the international conference 2017 Human Dimension Implementation Meeting which was an OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights event, we organised a discussion panel on the attack on the rule of law and civil society in Poland.

I first came across the Open Dialogue Foundation in 2011 during OSCE Summit in Warsaw, when, together with MPs of Civic Platform and Law and Justice, the ODF stood up in defence of persecuted pro-democracy activists and miners of Zhanaozen (i.e. crude oil region in Kazakhstan)

An article posted on the website of the Polsat News channel was devoted to the participation of the Head of the Foundation Board of the ODF Bartosz Kramek in the discussion panel organised during the conference of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

Enquiry No. 4298 to the Prime Minister regarding the words of Mr Tarczynski on Radio Kielce on 22 August 2017 Submitted by: Artur Gierada, Agnieszka Pomaska, Piotr Cieśliński, Sławomir Nitras, Cezary Tomczyk, Paweł Olszewski, Rafał Trzaskowski Date of receipt: 28 August 2017 Polish Radio Kielce reports — Law and Justice MP Dominik Tarczynski from Świętokrzyskie […]

Even though ODF has not officially received, though any channel, any information from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MSZ) or the court, the possibility of appointing a compulsory administrator for the Foundation is widely discussed by Polish media such as Newsweek or Wirtualna Polska.

On the 21st August, a Polish journalist and opposition activist during the time of the People’s Republic of Poland, Wojciech Maziarski addressed an open letter to the Polish authorities which was published in social media and on the website of Koduj24.

On 19 July, Onet published a detailed analysis of a report by Marcin Rey, an editor of “The Russian Fifth Column in Poland”, who focused on the activities of the Open Dialogue Foundation and its financing sources

On the 7th August, the Open Dialogue Foundation received another letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this time telling it to urgently delete from the web space „information inciting to undertake illegal activities”.

When they dared to criticise the PiS government, they were accused of arms trafficking, taking money from the Kremlin and being an “agent of influence.” – As a foundation, we support the rule of law and human rights. And we name those who violate them – said Lyudmyla Kozlovska, president of the ODF.

The ODF statement of 14 August 2017 concerning the safety of its workers and donors

An extensive interview with Lyudmyla Kozlovska was released on 11 August this year. In this interview, the ODF President explained the rationale behind the Foundation’s statement on the current situation in Poland

“The Ministry give the Foundation three days to unpublish the manifesto written by Bartosz Kramek” – Onet informed on the 8th August. The portal devoted an extensive article to the Foreign Ministry’s measures which are a consequence of the Head of the Foundation Board speaking on the … (read more)

“A group of seven inspectors representing the Treasury and Customs Office in Łódź visited the Open Dialogue Foundation’s domicile today. The tax ledgers and documents for 2014-2016 were retained for further investigation” – announced Onet on Monday, 7 August.

On 7 August, a group of seven inspectors representing the Customs and Tax Office in Łódź visited the domicile of the ODF’s accounting services provider. The inspectors retained documents concerning the Foundation’s taxable income and bank account statements for 2014-2016

It is very surprising to us to read statements, unsupported by evidence, about the alleged links of the Open Dialogue Foundation with the Russian special services. It seems that the publications, which appear in certain government media, are retaliation for the active position of the organisation.