Szydło and Morawiecki at the PAP headquarters. “An attack on the Polish rule of law”
PiS politicians were still at the PAP headquarters on the night from Saturday to Sunday. These included, among others: former prime ministers – Mateusz Morawiecki and Beata Szydło. – Under the cover of darkness, they are carrying out an attack on the Polish rule of law – said Szydło
The atmosphere at the headquarters of the Polish Press Agency thickened on Thursday evening. A dozen or so PiS parliamentarians entered the building, with both the new and dismissed president of the company inside. The first one, Marek Błoński, argued that the agency’s management works and, despite the difficulties, performs its duties. It is known, however, that he did not get into the cabinet blocked by MPs and dismissed Wojciech Surmacz. On Friday, around 2 p.m., PiS president Jarosław Kaczyński and former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki appeared at the PAP headquarters.
Morawiecki was also in PAP on Saturday night, as was Beata Szydło. – I would like to draw attention to the evening events at the Polish Press Agency. I think it’s good that the cameras showed these men. They don’t want to show their faces. They know perfectly well that there is no contract and they are here illegally, said the former prime minister, pointing out that security guards who had authorizations from the new management of the agency came to the building.
“Tusk’s team is trying to take advantage of the fact that it’s Christmas time”
– Maybe you are not aware of what is happening in Poland at the moment – Szydło continued. – Imagine that a group of men come to your house for Christmas and say that they can be here. You own this house, you didn’t invite them. You call the police and the police say they can’t do anything because they are here. Because there is someone who pretends to be you and said he invited them here, she said.
– Tusk’s team is trying to take advantage of the fact that it is Christmas time – added the former prime minister. – They are carrying out an attack on the Polish rule of law under the cover of darkness – she noted.
Mateusz Morawiecki spoke in a similar tone. – The current government will stop at nothing to forcefully resolve the matter of… what exactly? The case of media monopoly. Why do they want to have a monopoly? Why do they want PAP and other media? They want important information not to be presented to the public, he said.
PAP journalists break the silence. “Political surveillance brought censorship”
Journalists working in the agency are fed up with the chaos at PAP. On Friday, they published a petition in which they revealed what had been happening at Bracka Street in recent years. “We consider daily work to provide reliable and impartial information about the situation in our country and around the world to be normal. About political, social, economic, cultural, scientific and sports life. We consider it normal to have a situation in which our dispatches are a trustworthy material or point of reference for other media, or even a ready-made product for publication by them,” they explain.
Journalists associated with PAP argue that this normality has been “suppressed and limited” in recent years, which has made their work impossible or more difficult. In their opinion, political supervision or oversight in the agency has contributed to changes that are unacceptable.
“Political supervision brought censorship and propaganda in the PAP Daily Information Service, which is the main product of the Agency. This was especially visible on the open website pap.pl. The PAP website is freely capacious, which has enabled many of us to work on providing content consistent with the standards of professional agency journalism. The propaganda came mainly in the form of additional messages provided by the current leadership, in line with current political expectations,” write the authors of the petition.
