I apologise to those who I have smeared. I regret it. I wish I could turn back time - reads a statement published by Gazeta Wyborcza, written by Emilia - a woman who took part in a smear campaign coordinated by the Ministry of Justice, aimed to discredit Polish judges. "Poland, the Poles, must find out the truth about the propapanda machine and destroying of people in Poland," she added.
The Onet.pl website reported late on Monday that Piebiak was behind a campaign to blackball critical judges including Krystian Markiewicz, a prominent critic of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party and head of the judicial association Iustitia.
It published alleged transcripts of conversations between Piebiak and a woman named as Emilia in which they weighed plans to anonymously send material with rumours about Markiewicz's private life to regional branches of Iustitia and to his home.
Emilia, whose surname was not given, acted as an intermediary between the ministry of justice and pro-government media, and posted material online intended to compromise certain judges, according to Onet.pl.
Polish Deputy Justice Minister Łukasz Piebiak said he was resigning on Tuesday, and later than day, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki accepted Piebiak's decision.
The woman named as Emilia issued a statement that was published by Gazeta Wyborcza on Wednesday.
"I believed I was fighting bad people"
"I wasn't doing it for myself or for the money, and all the more so, as I've read somewhere, for a place on election list. This is no conspiracy. Nobody bought me," Emilia explained.
She added that she is a regular Polish girl, as any other. "I wanted to have a home, family, loving husband, kids. I love Poland, my heart has always been and still is on the right side," she wrote.
She admitted that she felt "deceived and used". "Yes, I've spread all this hate for Poland. Because I believed that I was fighting bad people. I thought it was true that Poland was being harmed by a caste, namely particular judges, who are opposed to the overhaul in the Polish judiciary. Such individuals serving as Polish judges? Passing rulings on behalf of Poland, with Polish emblem on the first page? Doing harm to people? I was naive, I believed that I was asked for help by better people, for whom Poland comes first, rather than careers and money. Patriots, true Poles," reads the statement.
"Propaganda machine"
Emilia wrote that she "had learned the hard way about how this machine of deceit, manipulation, hate and oppresion works".
She stressed that she didn't want to get into details because they would be the subject of court proceedings.
"I've been betrayed, degraded, left alone with nothing, no job, no money, roof over my head, but with a long list of enemies - people that I was discrediting, as well as those who employed me to do it. Now, I see it all clearly. Those methods are from the previous system. Things that I've done were clearly wrong. Nothing can justify it. I apologise to those who I have smeared. I regret it. I wish I could turn back time," she added.
Emilia thinks that "Poland, the Poles, must find out the truth about the propapanda machine and how people are being destroyed in Poland".
"And all I want is to live a peaceful life and feel safe. Now, I'm scared. I receive threats. I really don't know what those people are capable of, given what they already did and what you can finally read about," she wrote.
"I've paid for my deeds with my private life, health and money. I've got nothing to lose," she conluded her statement.
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: Shutterstock