Tag: political persecution

In the previous Law and Justice (PiS) administration, the Public Prosecutor’s Office (PPO) had been significantly politically compromised. PPO, under the Prosecutor General Zbigniew Ziobro, was the institution which caused the most direct harm to Polish citizens in 2015-2023. It has systemically pursued (often only perceived) political and business opponents, quashed dissent, and silenced critical […]

The Warsaw prosecutor’s office will assess whether Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik exceeded their authority in the case of Lyudmyla Kozlovska, President of the Open Dialogue Foundation. What exactly is the investigation about? Prosecutor’s investigation: The Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw has launched an investigation into abuse of power by, among others, officers of the […]

Her Excellency Kaja KallasHigh Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security PolicyVice-President of the European CommissionEuropean External Action Service 28 February 2025 Subject: Urgent concerns regarding human rights violations in Kazakhstan ahead of EU-Central Asia engagement Your Excellency, On behalf of the human rights monitoring group #ActivistsNotExtremists, we are writing to express […]

Following the change of government in October 2023, the new administration announced that it would restore the independence of the Public Prosecutor’s Office. A key step in this direction was to be an audit of politically motivated criminal cases initiated between 2015 and 2023. However, the Open Dialogue Foundation warns that the course and results […]

1. Summary The year 2024 and January 2025 were record-breaking for Kazakhstan in terms of violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Human rights defenders of the monitoring group ActivistsNon-Extremists believe that political rights and freedoms in the country remain merely as declarations: The Ministry of Justice of Kazakhstan has officially refused 25 times to […]

This study was prepared as a submission to the European Commission’s 2025 Rule of Law Report 1. Introduction Since assuming power in October 2023, Poland’s new, Civic Coalition-led government has initiated efforts to restore the independence of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which had been compromised under the previous Law and Justice (PiS) administration and Prosecutor […]

“In the process of prosecuting Bartosz Kramek for his call for civil disobedience against the Law and Justice’s authorities, the prosecution service supervised by Mr Ziobro has gone so far as to commission a professional semiotic study. However, nowhere in the entire text is there any suggestion of overthrowing the government,” the author said clearly. […]

On 21 November 2024, the Lublin Regional Prosecutor’s Office closed and later on 6 December discontinued the politically motivated case under the reference RP I Ds 34.2018 against Bartosz Kramek – Chair of Supervisory Board at the Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF). The decision was justified by the fact that the collected “evidence did not provide […]

“By a decision dated 6 December 2024, the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Lublin discontinued the investigation against Bartosz Kramek,” reads the statement of the Prosecutor’s Office. In 2017, Bartosz Kramek published the text “Let the State Come to a Stop: Let’s Shut Down the Government”, which caused him many legal problems. Subsequently, he was detained […]

The Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Lublin discontinued the investigation against the founder of the Open Dialogue Foundation engaged in supporting defenders of democracy. For five years, Bartosz Kramek was prosecuted by a PiS prosecutor, Ziobro’s nominee, Jerzy Ziarkiewicz. Jerzy Ziarkiewicz is the discredited head of the Lublin Regional Prosecutor’s Office, who for years blocked investigations […]

The investigation against Bartosz K., Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Open Dialogue Foundation has been discontinued. The case was related to providing false data in VAT invoices and a money-laundering scheme. According to the investigators, there are no grounds for filing charges against him. The investigation has been discontinued by the Provincial Public […]

“The Provincial Public Prosecutor’s Office in Lublin discontinued the investigation against Bartosz K., Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Open Dialogue Foundation, which was related to providing false data in VAT invoices and a money-laundering scheme. The investigators determined that there were no grounds for filing charges,” reported the Polish Press Agency. The information […]

After six years, the President of the Open Dialogue Foundation, Lyudmyla Kozlovska, was finally able to come back to Poland. “We have submitted a complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office regarding the abuse of power which was most likely commissioned by Messrs Wąsik, Kamiński and the then head of the Internal Security Agency,” said Bartosz […]

“One year after the change of power, yet hundreds of people are still being prosecuted by the Prosecutor’s Office on charges tailored by the Law and Justice party,” says Bartosz Kramek, Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Open Dialogue Foundation, in an interview with naTemat.  This includes organisers of local Women’s Strike, participants in […]

Several NGOs, Radio Wolna PL (Free Poland), Themis Judges Association and more than 30 public figures have submitted a public appeal to the Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar. The signatories draw attention to the need for a “fair, transparent and comprehensive review of politically motivated criminal proceedings” initiated during Zbigniew Ziobro’s days as Prosecutor General. […]