His Excellency Leszek Miller
Prime Minister of Poland
Chancellery of the Prime Minister
Warsaw
Poland

Fax: (004822) 621 88 27

Grzegorz Kurczuk
Minister of Justice
Ministry of Justice
Al. Ujazdowskie II
00-950 Warsaw
Poland

Fax: (004822) 621 55 40

Vienna, 23 June 2003

Your Excellency,

The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in over 115 countries, condemns the recent police interrogation of two members of the Management Board of Presspublica Sp. Z.o.o., the publisher of Polish daily, Rzeczpospolita.

According to information provided to IPI, on 16 June, Grzegorz Gauden, President of the Management Board of Presspublica Sp. Z.o.o., and Elzbieta Ponikio, Vice-President of the Management Board, were again interrogated at the Warsaw-Ochota Police district station, in connection with allegations by the authorities that directors of Presspublica Sp. Z.o.o.had “acted to [the company’s] detriment” in 2000 when they made a severance payment to the then editor-in-chief of Rzeczpospolita.

To IPI’s knowledge, the case concerning the severance payment had been discontinued by prosecutors in December 2002 after the investigation found that there were no “signs of actions forbidden by law.” The decision to reopen the case is therefore yet another example of “political and judicial harassment” against the officials of Presspublica Sp. Z.o.o. and is unacceptable in a country that will soon be full members of the European Union.

With the above in mind, IPI invites Your Excellency to consult with the Minister of Justice to ensure that there is no continuation of this harassment. Having found no wrongdoing after months of Police investigations and interrogations, the Polish state should once and for all desist in the case against the members of Presspublica Sp. Z.o.o. Otherwise, it will be increasingly obvious that such actions against the media company are purely politically motivated.

We thank you for your attention.

Johann P. Fritz
Director