Biznes Fakty
Radio ZET without penalty KRRiT. Court dismisses appeal
The Court of Appeal in Warsaw rejected the appeal made by the chairman of the National Broadcasting Council, Maciej Świrski, against the district court’s ruling, which nullified the chairman’s decision to penalize Radio ZET for purportedly disseminating disinformation. – Today we received a strong affirmation that arbitrary actions against the media and efforts to intimidate them will not be accepted – remarked Mariusz Smolarek, the editor-in-chief of Radio ZET, regarding the ruling.
The rejected appeal pertained to the ruling of the District Court in Warsaw dated May 27, 2024, which annulled the decision made by the chairman of the National Broadcasting Council, Maciej Świrski, to impose a penalty of PLN 476,000 on Radio ZET for „allegedly disseminating disinformation that undermines the Polish raison d’état.”
As highlighted in a statement by the Eurozet Group, the owner of the radio station, the ruling is now final.
– Today’s ruling is excellent news for all independent media and reaffirms the principles that underpin journalism in a democratic society. This dispute with the National Broadcasting Council was fundamentally a defense of freedom of speech – commented Mariusz Smolarek, editor-in-chief of Radio ZET, in a press release from the Eurozet Group.
– Today we received a strong affirmation that arbitrary treatment of the media and attempts to intimidate them will not be tolerated. The court acknowledged all of our arguments, thus affirming the essential role of media in a democratic framework. We never doubted it could be any other way – he added.
The attorney for the radio station, Krzysztof Misarko, underscored that Thursday’s ruling confirms that the National Broadcasting Council cannot arbitrarily judge the accuracy of materials in news reports and subsequently impose penalties based on this, citing the Polish raison d’état. – The National Broadcasting Council should protect freedom of speech and the right to information, not suppress these values – he emphasized.
The National Broadcasting Council has penalized Radio ZET
The fine imposed by Maciej Świrski on Radio ZET was a response to the article by Mariusz Gierszewski titled „Americans transported Zełenski to Poland. They did not consult the Polish services for assistance” published on December 22, 2022. The piece outlines the details surrounding the Ukrainian president’s journey through Poland.
„The journalist’s findings, validated by independent sources, indicated that while the Polish authorities were aware of the special train’s arrival from Ukraine, they were not informed in advance that Volodymyr Zelensky was aboard, en route to the USA. This could be attributed to a decline in trust in the Polish services following the high-profile scandal involving the police commander’s grenade launcher,” the release states.
Following the publication, the chairman of the National Broadcasting Council „arbitrarily imposed on Radio ZET the highest fine in the history of Polish radio broadcasting, amounting to PLN 476,000, accusing, without any evidence, among other things, of spreading alleged disinformation and actions against the Polish raison d’état.” The station contested this ruling in court.
„Maciej Świrski imposed a total of three penalties on the radio stations within the Eurozet Group – one on Radio ZET (regarding Zelensky’s trip through Poland) and two on Radio TOK FM (pertaining to the HiT manual and alleged hate speech). All of these penalties were annulled, two of which were legally binding,” the Eurozet Group recalled.
