Tag: SLAPP

The Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF) welcomes the European Parliament’s efforts to develop accountability mechanisms using EU–Kyrgyzstan trade relations to address the transnational financial repressions through weaponisation of the financial sector and the misuse of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT) frameworks, SLAPP tactics by Kyrgyzstan. We are particularly grateful to the European Parliament for recognising […]

Commercial Court Upholds Press Freedom, Denies All Provisional Measures Sought by Kyrgyz Bank BRUSSELS, Belgium – July 31, 2025 – The Brussels Commercial Court has rejected all provisional measures sought by Bakai Bank OJSC Kyrgyzstan against the Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF), protecting the organization’s constitutional right to publish investigative reports on sanctions circumvention. The court […]

On 24 June 2025, President of the Open Dialogue Foundation Lyudmyla Kozlovska testified at a hearing of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in the U.S. Congress on transnational financial repression. The hearing focused on testimonies of several human rights experts, and the following discussion focused on policies and instruments that should be employed to prevent and […]

Lyudmyla Kozlovska, President of the Open Dialogue Foundation, will take part in a hearing of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on transnational repression and potential policy approaches to addressing this problem. The event will take place on 24 June 2025 at the seat of the United States Congress in Washington, D.C. The hearing will […]

Read the full article: humanrightscommission.house.gov See also: Lyudmyla Kozlovska testifies on transnational repression at Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in US Congress (June 26, 2025)

In 2022, Kazakhstan’s special services orchestrated a collective criminal complaint in Belgium against the Open Dialogue Foundation and its President, human rights activist Lyudmyla Kozlovska. The operatives, filing complaints on behalf of their minor children, accused the Foundation and its President in harassment, slander and cyberbullying, posed as victims, and demanded the removal of social […]

Executive Summary Nature of the Proceeding: The report examines a civil legal action initiated in Belgium by Bakai Bank, one of the largest commercial banks in Kyrgyzstan (Bakai Bank or the “Claimant”), against the Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF). This civil action represents a clear instance of a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP). Bakai Bank […]

Another failed attempt by a Law and Justice (PiS) activist to intimidate citizens. On 21 November 2023, the Warszawa-Śródmieście District Court discontinued the lawsuit that Law and Justice (PiS) MP Joanna Lichocka brought against our Foundation colleagues Bartosz Kramek and Martin Mycielski for billboards showing her extending a middle finger. In its reasoning, the court […]

In March 2021, Joanna Lichocka filed a bill of indictment against Marcin Mycielski and Bartosz Kramek (Spontaniczny Sztab Obywatelski), who organised an online campaign to raise funds for the publication of billboards posters. An image of the MP appeared on them, together with a description suggesting that her gesture was aimed at cancer sufferers. According […]

The Warsaw-Śródmieście District Court discontinued criminal proceedings against the authors of a billboard campaign that used the image of Law and Justice MP Joanna Lichocka. The high-profile case concerns a billboard campaign in Poland featuring a photo of Joanna Lichocka allegedly showing her middle finger in the Sejm during a vote on the allocation of […]

The Warszawa-Śródmieście District Court has closed the criminal lawsuit that Law and Justice MP Joanna Lichocka filed against activists Marcin Mycielski and Bartosz Kramek in relation to billboards showing an extended middle finger. Marcin Mycielski and Bartosz Kramek (Spontaniczny Sztab Obywatelski) prepared a poster reminding us that Joanna Lichocka showed the opposition MPs the middle […]

The Law and Justice (PiS) MP Joanna Lichocka demanded punishment for the initiators of a poster campaign with a photo of her showing the opposition in the Sejm her middle finger. The court has just dropped the case. It ruled that there was no defamation of the MP. It was “acceptable criticism”. Martin Mycielski, Vice-President […]

Joanna Lichocka has filed a private lawsuit against Marcin Mycielski and Bartosz Kramek (Spontaniczny Sztab Obywatelski), who organised an online campaign to raise funds for the erection of billboards. The billboards featured an image of the MP with a description suggesting that her gesture was aimed at people suffering from cancer. The charge sheet alleges […]

“Joanna Lichocka is said to have received “dozens of death threats and demands that she resign her parliamentary seat”. This is all the result of the billboards with “Lichocka’s gesture” believes the law firm representing the MP and demanding an apology for this,” reads wyborcza.pl. Lawyers representing Lichocka have contacted the organisers of the billboard […]

MP Joanna Lichocka is demanding an apology from the organisers of a public fundraiser that resulted in several hundred billboards showing her vulgar gesture being put up across the country. “The MP has ended her political and media quarantine and decided to remind Poles of her friendly greeting,” respond the organisers of the fundraiser. Recall: […]