Following our support of the Resolution on the independence of judges, adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on January 26th, ODF became a target for representatives of the Polish PiS government, whose actions were harshly criticised in the Resolution. PiS MP Arkadiusz Mularczyk, supported by British Conservative Ian Liddell-Grainger, initiated a […]
On 4 March 2021 we organised an online hearing for Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), European Parliament advisors and selected journalists under the title “Law and Justice’s Crackdown on Independent Prosecutors in Poland Intensifies”, featuring persecuted Polish independent prosecutors from the Lex Super Omnia association – Katarzyna Kwiatkowska, Jacek Bilewicz and Ewa Wrzosek – […]
On 28 January 2021, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution on judges in Poland and the Republic of Moldova. The resolution, resulting from ODF’s advocacy efforts back in 2018, urges the countries’ authorities to uphold the rule of law and ensure judicial independence.
In the latest instance of the Polish authorities’ open disregard for the rule of law, 14 Cracow judges have been exposed to politicised prosecution and investigations. Their alleged crime? Handing down judgments which were inconvenient for the authorities and failing to persecute Prosecutor Krasoń – a staunch defender of the independence of the judiciary. This […]
On 9 November 2020, during the Second Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting (SHDM), our advocacy officer, Katarzyna Szczypska, urged the OSCE bodies to pressure the Polish authorities to stop using blasphemy laws to police speech.
On October 8, 2020 we had the pleasure of organising an online hearing for Members of the European Parliament under the title “How should the EU support the Polish judiciary?”, featuring persecuted Polish judges Beata Morawiec and Dariusz Mazur, with additional expertise provided by Prof. Laurent Pech. The event was co-hosted by MEPs Róza Thun […]
The Open Dialogue Foundation invites you to a Zoom hearing with persecuted Polish judges Beata Morawiec & Dariusz Mazur with additional expertise provided by Prof. Laurent Pech. Who? Judge Beata Morawiec, President of the Themis Judges’ Association. First judge to win a court case against Justice Minister Z. Ziobro for her unlawful removal from office, […]
The Open Dialogue Foundation, headed by Lyudmyla Kozlovska, received PLN 71,000 from the U.S. Department of State for the promotion of the rule of law in Poland. – at the same time, the Onet.pl news site pointed out that the President herself, who is a Ukrainian citizen, cannot come to Poland as her name is on the national list of undesirable persons.
On the 8th of July 2020, Forsal reported that the Open Dialogue Foundation received a grant from the U.S. Department of State for the promotion of rule of law in Poland.
The Open Dialogue Foundation will educate secondary school students in Poland in the rule of law, including the separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary. It’s a new idea that was funded by the U.S. State Department through the U.S. Embassy.
On 8 July 2020, Dziennik.pl published information that the Open Dialogue Foundation received funds from the U.S. Department of State to promote the idea of the rule of law in Poland
Our new project, “Democracy fitness: transforming citizens into active stakeholders via exercising democracy”, financed by the State Department through the US Embassy in Warsaw, is aimed at secondary school students in Poland. The aim of the project is to strengthen the understanding of democratic values and processes as well as foster civic participation. Emphasis will be placed on educational activities in the area of the rule of law, including the separation of powers and independence of the judiciary. It is planned to start in September 2020.
Since the Law and Justice party (PiS) came to power in 2015, the Polish authorities purposefully obstruct access to information – either by refusing to provide information, delays in responding or delivering incomplete information. This both unconstitutional and undemocratic practice is yet another example of Poland going rogue under the PiS leadership, stated our advocacy officer, Katarzyna Szczypska, at the Second Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting (SHDM), and urged the OSCE bodies to take a firm stance and discipline the Polish authorities to comply with the organisation’s principles.
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.
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.
Having been granted a long-term resident’s EU card, Lyudmyla Kozlovska, the head of the Open Dialogue Foundation, is no longer included in the Schengen Information System, according to DGP information.
![The Lyudmyla Kozlovska Case timeline [updated]](http://en.odfoundation.eu/content/uploads/i/articles/8984_mid.jpg)
This is a non-exhaustive timeline of events preceding and following the expulsion of Lyudmyla Kozlovska, President of the Open Dialogue Foundation, from the EU. This list will be updated as events unfold.
Following the expulsion of Lyudmyla Kozlovska, the President of the Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF), from Poland, large pro-government media, from the Polish Radio to ‘Gazeta Polska’, were quoting Kazakhstani, Moldovan and Ukrainian media in their coverages.
Is the expulsion of the head of the Open Dialog Foundation from the EU at the request of Poland a victory for the Russian services, for the ODF having gotten under their skin? That’s what Andrzej Wielowieyski and Marcin Święcicki think.
On 24 May 2018, the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of PACE adopted two draft resolutions expressing its concern over new legislations and restrictions on NGOs’ activities in member States of the CoE and calling for the need to strengthen the important role of human rights defenders.
During the last PACE Winter session, on 26 January 2018, twenty-nine members signed a motion for resolution to call for the strengthening of efforts aimed at promoting and protecting the rule of law and the respect of civil liberties in Poland, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova.
On the occasion of the winter session of the PACE, the Open Dialog Foundation organised a 4-day mission to Strasbourg. The Polish delegation was headed by Lyudmyla Kozlovska, President of the ODF, Anna Prus from The Poland-wide Women’s Strike and Robert Hojda – creator of the Przystań “OKO”.
Between September and October, a delegation from the Open Dialog Foundation visited the European Parliament and the PACE to address the human rights situation and the issue of political prisoners in Moldova and Kazakhstan, as well as the recent violations of civil liberties in 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.
