Radio Zet editor-in-chief: fine imposed on us is draconian, we're going to court

The KRRiT Chairman Maciej Świrski has imposed a fine of 476,000 zlotys on private broadcaster Radio Zet. The fine is for a news piece on the American services' alleged lack of confidence in their Polish counterparts in terms of securing Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's transit through Poland. According to Świrski, the material was "contrary to the law, the Polish raison d'état and views contrary to the public interest".

The news report in question - Americans transported Zelensky in Poland. They did not ask for help from Polish security services - was aired on December 22, 2022. The editorial board did not receive a single request for rectification. "We strenuously disagree with these accusations and the imposed fine" - the owner of Radio Zet - Grupa Eurozet - said in a statement.

Asked why the KRRiT chief has imposed the fine, Radio Zet Editor-In-Chief Mateusz Smolarek replied: "As far as I understand, for the truth we reported on December 22. We informed about a train which had passed through Poland, a special train from Ukraine. According to our sources, the Polish services knew about this train, but did not know exactly who was on it and who would travel through our country. There were no Polish services at the railway station in Przemyśl. There, it turned out that inside was president Zelenskiy, who was picked up by American services and transported to Rzeszów where he boarded a plane".

"This is the highest fine in the history of Polish radio broadcasting and half a million zlotys is no small thing. And so this amount sounds solid and is draconian," Smolarek added. "We're definitely planning to take this case to court and demand the truth there, because we too are fighting against fake news."

The Radio Zet editor-in-chief stressed that "today we must loudly speak about media freedom". "This hashtag which appears everywhere (#wolne media) reminds us not only that we are fighting the rights of journalists and media, but first and foremost about the right of all Poles to information. Today we should speak out loud that there can be no democratic state, no free society, without the right to information," he underscored.

Professor Tadeusz Kowalski, one of five members of the National Broadcasting Council, told TVN24 it was not the KRRiT that has imposed the fine, but its chairman alone. "It was absolutely his own decision. This matter was never discussed at the Council meeting, it never was a subject of discussion, we never had a chance to exchange any arguments for and against, and therefore it was a one-man decision" - he explained.