Along with Tomasz Sz., the editor-in-chief of Wiadomości Wrzesińskie, Waldemar Ś., was named as a defendant in the case. Both face charges for an offence under Article 241 § 2 of the Criminal Code, i.e. public dissemination of information from a trial closed to the public, subject to a fine or the penalty of limitation of liberty or the penalty of deprivation of liberty for up to two years.
The article in which Tomasz Sz. published classified information concerned the trial of German entrepreneur Hans Stiebe, the president of Klafs, a company located in the village of Miłosław, near Września. Mr. Stiebe, a widely-known figure in the local community, a patron of local sports and an honorary citizen of Mirosław, had been found guilty by final judgment of sexually abusing employees working in his company. The case was closed in 2009. A year later, the article by Tomasz Sz. was published.
There is no doubt that a person disseminating classified information ought to be held liable. Yet the case concerning Wiadomości Wrzesińskie is controversial for at least several reasons. What speaks in favour of the journalist is the fact that the trial of Hans Stiebe was brought to an end long before the article went to print. Thus, information published in the paper could not have distorted or prejudiced the criminal proceedings or influenced the judicial independence. Moreover, Tomasz Sz. did not come into possession of the classified information illegally. The journalist drafted an application for access to the case files and filed it with the court. He explicitly stressed that his intention was to use the information to write an article, and so in giving its consent, the court was aware of that fact. Why then did Tomasz Sz. become a defendant in a criminal case? The matter is being heard by the District Court in Poznań – Stare Miasto. Given the absurdity of the situation, the Court will have a tough time deciding who was right.
In any case, the prosecutor’s office in Września is free of doubts: ‘The journalist was allowed to access the case files. However, it does not mean hat he was authorised to publish classified information obtained from the case records. He might have left them out as well’, says Jacek Motawski, Deputy District Prosecutor in Września. The question is why the journalist was permitted to read those files at all. This is a legitimate question, especially considering him stating the purpose of accessing the files in the application. Jarema Sawiński, spokesperson for the Circuit Court in Poznań, which supervises the District Court in Września, refuses to comment on the case until it is decided.
The matter is being monitored by the Observatory of the Freedom of Media in Poland Programme.
