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Łukasz Kasprowicz, a young journalist and blogger, has been sentenced to a 10 – month freedom restriction and 300 hours of community service. On his blog, he often criticized his hometown mayor. The court found him guilty of defamation. The verdict has triggered a heated debate about freedom of expression in Poland.

Two banks in Warsaw did not allow a 84-year-old citizen Józef Głuchowski to use their toilets. The man believes that it was detrimental to his dignity and the right to intimacy. He decided to sue the banks for violating his personal rights. He demands a 15,000 PLN compensation and apology. The banks want the lawsuit to be dismissed.

On 31 January 2011 the appellate court in Lublin awarded Mr. Władysław Szczeklik compensation in the amount of 400,000 PLN for wrongful detention awaiting trial (case no. II Aka 337/10). This judgment was the result of an appeal against a decision of the regional court in Lublin of September 22, 2010, in which the court awarded compensation amounting to 200,000 PLN.

On 25 January 2011 the European Court of Human Rights in Strasburg delivered a judgment in the case Kupczak v. Republic of Poland. According to ECHR Polish authorities by failing to provide necessary medical assistance (no steps were taken in order to fix the morphine pump) violated article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

On 20 January 2011 the Polish Prosecutor officially recognizes Guantanamo prisoner Abu Zubaydah as a victim in Poland’s CIA secret prison investigation; decision should allow former “high-value detainee” to testify against his US torturers and their allies. Until now both the Polish and US governments have denied that he was illegally imprisoned and tortured in a secret prison near Szymany.

With his commercial experience Adam Bodnar, PhD knows what it takes to practise law, but it is his involvement with the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR) that fills his need to help others and change the world. Secretary of the HFHR’s Board talks about his work, achievements, failures and the challenges he’s ready to face.

On 12 January 2011 the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights appealed to the Polish Prime Minister to condemn the new media law in Hungary. The Media Act which came into force on 1 January 2011 is a subject of serious doubts referring to its compliance with the standards of freedom of speech and guarantees of independent media.

We should talk about about the past, presence and future of the Polish National School of Judiciary and Public Prosecution (Krajowa Szkoła Sądownictwa i Prokuratury, KSSiP). Why is it so important? Because all the problems we have encountered so far, all the flashpoints that have appeared should give an indication that the KSSiP deserves and needs robust reforms.

In reference to the case of abuses in using surveillance methods against Polish journalists under the Law and Justice [Prawo i sprawiedliwość] government, Warsaw court declared that one of the journalist of the biggest Polish dailiy has the status of a victim in an investigation regarding the issue.