There are clear insufficiencies in Polish law, which prevents effective control over the surveillance activities of the Police and special services. The latter are endowed with extensive competences in this field. Surveillance, to which the media representatives were subjected, indicates serious abuse of the special services’ powers. This was possible because of the vague character and complexity of the current legal regulation, which gives access to billing lists and BTS logins data to special services, de facto without any procedural precautionary measures such as the General Prosecutor’s or court’s supervision.
Since the media reports, Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights has been actively involved in a campaign aiming at amending the necessary laws and raise public awareness on the issue. The Foundation believes that surveillance should be the measure of last resort, referred to only in exceptional situations and on the basis of clear legal provisions and court authorizations. Therefore, the Helsinki Foundation advocates for clear and specific regulations on surveillance procedures and techniques. Otherwise, basic constitutional principles and individual rights in Poland, such as freedom of the media are endangered
Knowing how important international acknowledgement is for the success of its efforts, the Foundation decided to seek support for its campaign among other international organizations and NGOs which deal with the issues of media freedom. The Foundation prepared a letter explaining the facts of the cases revealed by Gazeta and Rzeczpospolita, as well as the legal aspects related with the media surveillance issue. The letter was sent to a number of organizations, including OSCE, UNESCO, Article 19, Free Word Centre, Association of European Journalists, Committee to Protect Journalists, International Federation of Journalists, International Freedom of Expression eXchange, International Press Institute, Reporters Without Borders, World Association of Newspapers and Publisher, Word Press Freedom Committee.
