His Excellency Leszek Miller
Prime Minister of Poland
Chancellery of the Prime Minister
Warsaw
Poland
Vienna, 27 February 2002
Fax: (004822) 621 88 27
Your Excellency,
The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists, would like to bring to your attention the charges brought against three members of the managing board of Presspublica, the publisher of the daily Rzeczpospolita, by the Public Prosecutor’s office in Warsaw.
According to information before IPI, 51 per cent of Presspublica’s shares are held by Presspublica Holding Norway and 49 per cent by PPW Rzeczpospolita, which is owned by the Polish government. We understand that PPW Rzeczpospolita has accused Grzegorz Gauden, President of the Managing Board of Presspublica, and Vice Presidents Elzbieta Poniklo and Piotr Fratczak, of using transfer pricing to the detriment of Presspublica. The charges imply that these actions are not in the best interest of the company and favour the majority shareholder.
Consequently, the above board members have had their passports seized. They have been ordered to report on a regular basis to the police and refused the right to leave the country. Their passports were seized by the Prosecutor’s office on its own initiative and without the involvement of a judge. In addition to the constraints on personal freedom, these actions are hampering the board members from performing effectively for the benefit of the newspaper, including preventing them from travelling to Norway for consultation with the majority owners.
In essence, we are witnessing a struggle between shareholders with which we do not want to interfere. We do not as yet have any evidence that the principles of freedom of speech and of the press have been violated. Nevertheless, we are watching the situation very carefully to make sure that it does not lead to a takeover of Rzeczpospolita by the government for its own “propaganda” purposes, a well-known phenomenon in this region not so long ago.
Therefore, we ask Your Excellency to assure us that what is happening at Presspublica has nothing to do with an intention by the government to take over the newspaper Rzeczpospolita, a move which would have serious implications for press freedom.
IPI further urges you to do everything in your power to ensure that basic freedoms are restored to the aforementioned Presspublica board members alongside the return of their passports. As an organisation dedicated to the furtherance and safeguarding of press freedom, we refuse to see why this struggle between business partners should infringe upon basic human rights. We are convinced that the actions taken against the three members of Presspublica’s managing board are excessive and that the administrative harassment by the legal authorities is not in harmony with Poland’s image as a suitable applicant country for membership within the European Union.
We thank you for your attention.
Yours sincerely,
Johann P. Fritz
Director
