Hold PiS to account for persecuting defenders of rule of law. Inquiry needed

Hold PiS to account for persecuting defenders of rule of law. Inquiry needed

“For eight years PiS has been ruining the lives of people defending the rule of law in Poland. If we want to talk about democratic change, there must be accountability,” say Lyudmyla Kozlovska and Bartosz Kramek from the Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF). They are calling for a commission of inquiry into the matter.  The Open […]

The case of Marat Danebayev: Brother of Kazakhstani political prisoner at risk of persecution

The case of Marat Danebayev: Brother of Kazakhstani political prisoner at risk of persecution

Marat Danebayev – is a brother of a prominent Kazakhstani political prisoner Timur Danebayev. Marat Danebayev faced the risk of politically motivated persecution in Kazakhstan because he publicly covering the facts of ongoing repression against his brother, who is not receiving necessary medical care and is being held in unacceptable conditions. Marat was forced to […]

Unprecedented court order to remove Lyudmyla Kozlovska’s Polish entry ban

Unprecedented court order to remove Lyudmyla Kozlovska’s Polish entry ban

In an unprecedented manner, the Voivodeship Administrative Court in Warsaw ordered the Head of the Office for Foreigners to remove Lyudmyla Kozlovska’s entry ban as unjustified. There is no record of Polish courts ever ordering the Head to remove an entry ban. The verdict dated 28 November 2023 was delivered to us on 18 December […]

Court handed down a judgement in Lyudmyla Kozlovska’s case

Court handed down a judgement in Lyudmyla Kozlovska’s case

Ukrainian activist Lyudmyla Kozlovska, President of the Open Dialogue Foundation and wife of Bartosz Kramek, is again allowed to enter Poland. The ban lasted more than five years. Last year on 13 December, the Voivodeship Administrative Court in Warsaw issued a judgement ordering the Head of the Office for Foreigners to immediately remove Lyudmyla Kozlovska […]

Lyudmyla Kozlovska regains right to stay in Poland after six years

Lyudmyla Kozlovska regains right to stay in Poland after six years

The Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw has ordered the Office for Foreigners to remove the President of the Open Dialogue Foundation, Lyudmyla Kozlovska, from the register of foreigners whose residence on the territory of Poland is undesirable. “From our point of view, this is a precedent-setting ruling. For the first time, the court has not […]

VAC: Lyudmyla Kozlovska no longer an undesirable

VAC: Lyudmyla Kozlovska no longer an undesirable

After almost six years of legal battles, the Voivodeship Administrative Court (VAC) ordered that the pro-democracy activist and President of the Open Dialogue Foundation be removed from the list of people not allowed into Poland. Services subordinate to the Law and Justice party considered her a threat to Poland after ODF objected to the politicisation […]

Why should human rights defenders be protected from AML/CFT abuses by authoritarian authorities?

Why should human rights defenders be protected from AML/CFT abuses by authoritarian authorities?

On 8 December 2023, the President of the Open Dialogue Foundation participated in the panel discussion “Regulation as an Opportunity” at the Digital Finance Summit in Brussels. Lyudmyla Kozlovska gave a presentation on the consequences of the misuse of anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist financing regulations. The event, moderated by journalist Jimmy Franklin and Toon Vanagt, CEO […]

BTC Coalition: summary of works 2022-2023

BTC Coalition: summary of works 2022-2023

1. Building True Change Coalition and Its Mission The Building True Change Coalition (BTC Coalition) is a global network of freedom fighters united by the mission of harnessing the power of Bitcoin to protect fundamental rights and promote financial inclusion. Its members include human rights defenders, political activists, Bitcoin entreprenuers and industry experts. The coalition […]

Behind the glass wall. How to turn a dissident into a terrorist and a fraudster

Behind the glass wall. How to turn a dissident into a terrorist and a fraudster

Russia is threatened with exclusion from the international system of combating money laundering. The issue of Russia’s inclusion on the blacklist of the organisation in question – the FATF (Financial Action Task Force) – was considered at Ukraine’s request at a recent FATF session. The decision has not yet been made, but it may be […]

Footing the bill for a prosecutor

Footing the bill for a prosecutor

On 20 October 2023, the Vice-President & Executive Director of the Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF) Martin Mycielski and Chair of the Supervisory Board Bartosz Kramek were hosted by member of the State Tribunal, lawyer, and attorney Jacek Dubois in an interview entitled “Rachunek za prokuratora” (“Footing the bill for a prosecutor”).  In this hour-long interview, they […]

”Bitcoin is borderless” Conference — how to combat financial exclusion worldwide?

”Bitcoin is borderless” Conference — how to combat financial exclusion worldwide?

Lyudmyla Kozlovska, President of the Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF), participated in the Bitcoin Amsterdam Conference, which took place from 12 to 14 October 2023. During the panel discussion at the conference Bitcoin is borderless, she shared her story of how Bitcoin allowed her to fight for human rights, help Ukraine during the war, and deal […]

Entrepreneurs, you are not powerless. You have a vote!

Entrepreneurs, you are not powerless. You have a vote!

The Law and Justice (PiS) Party and Ziobro arm themselves to strike fear into entrepreneurs; to strike them not with a stick, but with a truncheon. Michał Romanowski – Professor of commercial law, Warsaw University. Attorney-at-Law at the Romanowski i Wspólnicy Law Office. In a recent interview with Forbes, Arkadiusz Muś, one of Poland’s most […]

Open Dialogue Foundation at the 2023 OSCE WHDC

Open Dialogue Foundation at the 2023 OSCE WHDC

Like every year, ODF took an active part in the OSCE’s Warsaw Human Dimension Conference. Unlike in 2022 we didn’t just focus the assembly’s attention on rule of law challenges in Poland, but also presented our findings on financial exclusion stemming from the abuse of AML/CFT laws by authoritarian states. The Warsaw Human Dimension Conference […]

Judges report on prosecutor harassment of business

Judges report on prosecutor harassment of business

The Open Dialogue Foundation and the “Themis” Association of Judges have published a report outlining how the Polish public prosecutor’s office operated under the rule of Zbigniew Ziobro. Entrepreneurs speak out about harassment by investigators. The report features a number of stories of people who experienced repression by the public prosecutor’s office in Poland under […]

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