The District Court for Warsaw-Śródmieście refused to release, among others, investigative journalist Piotr Nisztor from the obligation to maintain journalist confidentiality. The motion had been filed by prosecutors handling the case concerning the so-called “Giertych tapes.”
“They are trying to break confidentiality precisely so they can later persecute those who have fallen out of favor with the authorities,” the head of TV Republika said on air.
The Warsaw Regional Prosecutor’s Office has been conducting an investigation since July 2025 into the publication of the so-called “Giertych tapes,” including broadcasts aired by TV Republika. The case concerns a conversation between Roman Giertych and Donald Tusk.
“We are dealing with an attempt to break confidentiality”
Tomasz Sakiewicz pointed to what he described as the lack of legality in the prosecution’s actions. He also recalled another case involving Zbigniew Ziobro and his trip to the United States.
“If they summon me, I have already said under what conditions I am prepared to testify. I provided my address so that I could be summoned properly. I also stated when I intended to invoke journalist confidentiality, and they failed to notice that I had not refused to testify — they only noticed that I would rely on journalist confidentiality. But I never even had the chance to invoke it. I merely said when I would do so, if a legal prosecutor asked me a question,” Sakiewicz stressed.
He added that “all of this would be amusing were it not about fundamental freedoms and an attempt to break journalist confidentiality.”
“They should go to court and try to have it lifted,” he said.
Investigative journalist Piotr Nisztor, who conducted the interview, recalled that in what he described as a devastating justification related to the Giertych tapes case, the court pointed out that journalist confidentiality can only be lifted in three circumstances: a terrorist attack, an assassination attempt on the President of Poland, or murder.
Sakiewicz argued that Republika acted in the public interest by disclosing the tapes involving Giertych. He said it was important to expose unethical and criminal connections.
“We were supposed to be prosecuted because someone committed a crime and we revealed it,” the station’s head stated.
Republika journalist Monika Borkowska noted that there is already a series of cases showing what she described as attempts by the authorities to identify journalists’ sources.
“Do you think these operations at our homes would have been possible if we had not been under surveillance? That is exactly why journalist confidentiality is being broken — so they can later persecute those who have displeased the authorities. Journalist confidentiality is meant to protect both journalists and those who provide them with information. What we are seeing now is an attempt to break it,” Sakiewicz said.
“Release from confidentiality impossible”
It should be recalled that prosecutors also sought to release, among others, investigative journalist Piotr Nisztor of TV Republika and Gazeta Polska from the obligation of journalist confidentiality.
However, the motion was rejected by the District Court for Warsaw-Śródmieście. The ruling was issued on May 22, 2026.
“In this case, there is no information as to whether the authors of the recordings in question, or the persons who provided the recordings to TV Republika journalists, requested that data enabling their identification remain undisclosed. If such a request was made, then releasing journalists from confidentiality in this respect is not possible,” Judge Anna Kuzaj wrote in the justification.
The court emphasized that lifting journalist confidentiality requires meeting two conditions: necessity for the good of the justice system and the impossibility of establishing the relevant circumstances on the basis of other evidence.
The investigation into the Giertych tapes has been extended until the end of July 2026.
