Journalist Grzegorz Rzeczkowski threatened due to investigation into Russian influence in Poland, RSF calls for firm action from authorities

"I have become the target of an unprecedented threat campaign aimed at discouraging me from exposing Russian influence in Poland. For the first time in my life, I fear for the health and safety of myself and my family," Grzegorz Rzeczkowski told RSF. "I am astonished that in a country like Poland, where the authorities emphasise their awareness of Russian threats at every turn, people associated with the Kremlin can de facto intimidate a journalist with impunity. It shows how secure they feel in my country. That is why I expect more decisive action from the Polish authorities against those threatening me. I do not want the same to happen to others."

In a statementissued on 12 November, the Warsaw prosecutor's office announced that two weeks earlier, it had launched an investigation into "the use, between 22 February 2024, and at least 11 September 2024, in Warsaw and other locations, of illegal threats to coerce journalist Grzegorz Rzeczkowski into refraining from publishing press articles […] about the ties between one of the leaders of a company in the energy sector and the military intelligence of the Russian Federation."

The threats, made by phone and in writing, included statements that "everything" would be done to prevent the publication of the journalistic investigation. To discredit him as a journalist in the eyes of the public, the perpetrators threatened to spread the false claim that Grzegorz Rzeczkowski was working for Poland's state intelligence services. They even obtained, according to the Warsaw prosecutor's office, information about his investigation before its publication. The publishing house W.A.B., which had released his book "Putin's Spies, How the Kremlin's Men Control Poland", was also targeted with malicious calls and threats of legal action.

Poland ranks 47th out of 180 countries and territories in RSF's 2024 World Press Freedom Index.