A complaint has been filed with the court about the lengthy proceedings concerning the adviser to President Andrzej Zybertowicz, as reported by his lawyers. The filing centers on the court’s delay in issuing a written statement of reasons for the non-final judgment in the case linked to the Round Table.
Zybertowicz had asserted four years ago that there was a “deep truth” in Andrzej Gwiazda’s remark that during the Round Table discussions power shared power with its own agents.
The trial record shows the court closed the case on September 13, 2022 following closing arguments. The verdict was announced a month later on October 13, 2022, but the written grounds appeared only on February 23, the day the complaint was submitted to the court portal.
Lawyer Monika Brzozowska-Pasieka provided the information to PAP.
Awaiting the admission of appeal
She noted that an appeal is in preparation after the written justification for the judgment was released.
For nearly five months the essential reasons behind the decision were not accessible. The appeal court is being asked to examine what caused such a long delay in court work, since this was not a multi-thread criminal case or a complicated economic dispute. It was a straightforward matter of personal rights, addressing whether in a free Poland one could quote the words attributed to Andrzej Star.
— highlighted lawyer Brzozowska-Pasieka.
Case brought by forty claimants
In October, the District Court in Warsaw ordered Zybertowicz to apologize in a personal rights violation suit brought by nearly forty plaintiffs who participated in the 1989 Round Table talks on the side of the Opposition and Solidarity, along with their families.
Under the Code of Civil Procedure, a typical 14-day period is set for preparing a written statement of reasons, though the presiding judge may extend that period.
The court president has already authorized extensions twice. The latest deadline set on January 20 this year was for producing the grounds for the judgment.
Zybertowicz’s lawyers have informed the court of the latest developments.
The “deep truth” remark about the Round Table
The trial references rulings from February 5, 2019, at the Round Table’s 30th anniversary events. At that time the Chancellery of the President of Poland hosted an Oxford debate for high schoolers, and Zybertowicz commented on the moment. He cited the remark discussed by participants, noting that the Round Table discussions were the peaceful path to ending communism in Poland. He later stated that many observers and commentators did not grasp how deep the truth was in Andrzej Gwiazda’s remark that, during the Round Table, power shared power with its own agents.
Thirty-seven former opposition figures and Round Table participants, including Ryszard Bugaj, Władysław Frasyniuk, Andrzej Celiński, Aleksander Hall, Adam Strzembosz, Henryk Wujec and Andrzej Zoll, demanded an apology from Zybertowicz and compensation for social causes.
Apologies from Zybertowicz judged insufficient
Zybertowicz offered an apology for his remarks, stating that those involved in the process acted in good faith and were not connected to Polish People’s Republic services. Yet the TVN24 apology was deemed insufficient. Prosecutors asked for the apology to appear on the front pages of four national papers, with additional airtime after main TV broadcasts and upon delivering the text of the apology.
In October last year, Judge Karol Smaga, who ruled in the first instance, ordered the president’s adviser to publish the apology on the front page of Gazeta Wyborcza, detailing the apology’s technical parameters. The court rejected a request for social compensation.
Penalties for expressing an opinion
The plaintiffs sought more than PLN 1 million in total. While most of the claim was rejected, including the entire property claim, the cost of a front-page advertisement in a national newspaper raises concerns about a chilling effect on quoting the opinions of history witnesses, including Andrzej Gwiazda. This development could have wide implications for historical research and freedom of expression.
— commented Zybertowicz’s second attorney, Jerzy Pasieka.
Sylwia Gregorczyk-Abram, representing the plaintiffs, had argued in October that the statement about power sharing power with its agents undermined the functioning of the anti-communist opposition and damaged trust in its leaders.
The court must rule on the excessive length of proceedings within two months of receiving the complaint. If a complaint is accepted, the court can allocate a monetary amount from the treasury, ranging from PLN 2,000 to PLN 20,000.
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— A civil suit against Prof. Zybertowicz is ongoing. The verdict is due on a future date.
Judgment awaits, but the question remains: what exactly did Prof. Zybertowicz do? If the judge relies on ordinary logic, the accusation could be deemed unfounded.
rm/PAP