Donald Tusk sues Tomasz Sakiewicz («Gazeta Polska»)

 Donald Tusk sues Tomasz Sakiewicz («Gazeta Polska»)

On April 3, 2023, the Warsaw District Court held the first hearing of Donald Tusk's civil lawsuit against Tomasz Sakiewicz, the editor-in-chief of the weekly magazine "Gazeta Polska" and the publisher of Niezalezna Wydawnictwo Polskie. The chairman of the "Civic Platform" (PO) Donald Tusk is accusing the editor-in-chief of "Gazeta Polska" (GP) Tomasz Sakiewicz of violating personal rights, requiring the publication of numerous apologies in traditional and social media, as well as compensation of PLN 100,000 from both Tomasz Sakiewicz and the defendant publishing house.

The case concerns the cover of the weekly magazine "Gazeta Polska", published on July 20, 2022, on which, according to the plaintiff, his effigy was featured "in a way that unreasonably incites hostility, implying neo-Nazi propaganda." The featured PO leader has a clenched fist and an inscription “Gott mit uns”. Below is a note: Donald Tusk's words "You believe in God, you don't vote for PiS" equals to Prussian "Gott mit uns". Instead, the Polish government supported Ukraine in its fight under another old slogan: "In the name of God for our freedom and yours!". Patriarch Kirill and Tusk declare that the highest good is not on the side of those who carry the banner of freedom, but on the side of tyranny.

During the hearing, the court heard editor Piotr Lisiewicz as a witness, who is the author of the title article of this issue of GP entitled "Gott mit uns, or Former Democrat Tusk. To win, he has to rot and contaminate us again." The editor of GP testified in court that the reason for writing that article was Tusk's statement: "if you believe in God, you don't vote for PiS". It was a big statement then. According to an IPSOS poll for the opposition website oko.press, 54% of those who participate in religious services announced at the time that they would vote for the PiS party. Therefore, I consider Tusk's statement absurd and offensive; apparently acceptable under the conditions of freedom of speech, but offensive because it implies that a person who participates in religious practices and votes for the PiS violates these principles.

Lisiewicz noted that Tusk not only never backed down from his words, but even a few days ago publicly repeated that those who believe in God cannot vote for the PiS or the Confederation. The publicist claims that depriving worshipers of the right to support a political party is an abuse. Earlier, during the women's strike, Donald Tusk, who committed aggression against the church, invited Martha Lampart to Brussels, he also wore a mask with a zipper. And then the reason becomes the one who tells worshipers who they should vote for, Lisiewicz noted.

Media representatives and individuals appeared in front of the courtroom to express their support for the defendant, editor Tomasz Sakiewicz and “Gazeta Polska”, as well as to protest against the abuse of publicists who criticized the PO. Tomasz Sakiewicz believes that the PO leader's lawsuit against him is just one element of a large-scale operation aimed at intimidating journalists critical of Donald Tusk: Donald Tusk's lawsuit is one of three lawsuits filed against me and my media, and one of many lawsuits that were recently raised against journalists, but I think he was particularly fond of me. Donald Tusk demands PLN 100,000 and numerous apologies. All this to create a cooling effect; all in order to avoid his criticism and exposure.

According to the editor-in-chief of "Gazeta Polska", we are dealing with a funny story: "In this case, the legal process is absolutely strange, since it is about a satirical cover, where the editors made fun of his (D. Tusk - ed.) advice - who has to vote from among worshipers and for whom. Trials of this type are absolutely impossible in the Western world, because it would end up discrediting the politician. Sakiewicz claims that such processes are extremely dangerous because of the message that is given to the public: Today, unfortunately, we still live in the standards according to which a journalist should serve important people, not public opinion. I don't think that recently anyone has humiliated worshipers as much as Donald Tusk, forbidding them to vote for certain parties, editor Tomasz Sakiewicz said after the hearing.

The next court session is scheduled for June 16, 2023. Judge Rafał Wagner scheduled a hearing for the plaintiff and the defendant, i.e. Donald Tusk and editor Tomasz Sakiewicz, for this day.

Anna Maria Szczepaniak

SDP