CEOChairman of the Independent Polish channel TV Republika wearing a hat with the station’s emblem at a demonstration. The assets of a foundation which funds the channel have been seized by the government. Wikimedia Commons, Elekes Andor, CC-BY-SA-4.0
The Polish government has seized the bank accounts of the Independent Media Foundation, a vehicle for financing the independent conservative broadcaster TV Republika.
The Independent Media Foundation is a vehicle used by the broadcaster to raise funds from the public and commercial sponsors for its activities.
The broadcaster alleges that the government has acted illegally by ignoring a complaint filed by TV Republika with an administrative court and by issuing a decision without the legally required signatures.
TV Republika is Poland’s most popular news channel which has regularly criticized the Tusk government and which does not hide its sympathy towards the Conservative (PiS) opposition.
It has in recent months seen its journalists harassed with frequent interrogations by public prosecutors controlled by the centre-left government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk and with the triggering of false alarms involving the homes of the broadcaster’s journalists.
The Tusk administration’s action to seize the accounts of the Independent Media Foundation were made in association with an investigation with regard to TV Republika receiving 1,3 million Euros of public funding during the lifetime of the last PiS government for a project to monitor the 2023 parliamentary elections, funding which the current government is attempting to recover.
The government’s auditors claim that the grant had been made in an irregular way, though an initial audit by the previous government showed that the foundation had delivered training for 9,000 rather than the 3,000 envisaged in the grant’s contract and that some of the literature produced by the project was biased.
The CEO of TV Republika Tomasz Sakiewicz when asked by reporters why he felt the government had pursued this course of action he replied that this is an attempt by the government to cut off the channel from sources of funding.
“A direct, full-scale attack on Telewizja Republika has begun,that is how this should be understood.They believed they had no other choice because. TV Republika has become such an important player in the media landscape that, without destroying us, they will not be able to stay in power, even with such a weak opposition,” said Sakiewicz.
According to Sakiewicz the government’s actions are targeted at harming the channel and depriving it of the right to defend itself by attempting to stop its funding.
The foundation which has had its assets seized was not served with the mandatory written warning seven days in advance of any action taken.
Sakiewicz maintains that the foundation’s accounts were seized without it being served with a copy of the enforcement order.
The foundation filed a challenge in the local administrative court on June 20 but the government did not wait for the court’s decision and proceeded to seize the accounts.
The broadcaster’s CEO also maintains that the decision issued in the name of the government is legally invalid because it does not contain a qualified electronic signature.
“In Poland, there are only two valid forms of signature – a handwritten one or a qualified electronic one. This decision contains neither; it is merely a computer printout. This means that the tax official who acted on the basis of such a document has committed a criminal offence,” Sakiewicz argued.
The funds that became the subject of the seizure were allocated to a project training election observers and members of polling station commissions.
Sakiewicz argued that targeting such a project demonstrates an attempt to undermine election oversight.
“An attack on a project devoted to election security and training people to safeguard fair elections shows what they are preparing for the elections. They intend to target everyone who wants to protect the integrity of the vote, and this is the first such attack,” said Sakiewicz.
Sakiewicz however also said that more than a year ago TV Republika had already ended its cooperation with the Independent Media Foundation in fundraising, anticipating that “the authorities could resort to such lawless actions”, adding that the broadcaster is now establishing new entities in Poland and abroad to protect its financial independence.
The broadcaster raises significant funds directly from its viewers and since 2025 it has been encouraging its supporters to donate directly to its bank accounts rather than to the foundation.
Tomasz Sakiewicz declared that those responsible for the seizure of the foundation’s assets would face legal consequences and argued that officials who violate the law will not escape accountability.
“The Independent Media Foundation, TV Republika, and other entities within our group, following the unlawful seizure of the Foundation’s bank accounts, are taking decisive legal action against those responsible for these acts,” reads a joint statement by Joanna Jenerowicz, CEO of the foundation and Tomasz Sakiewicz, CEO of TV Republika.
“We are filing a complaint regarding these unprecedented actions, which threaten freedom of speech and economic freedom, and we are informing the courts already handling this case that the account freezes were imposed without their consent”, continues the statement.
“ At the same time, due to the abuse of authority and the deliberate actions taken to the detriment of our Foundation and affiliated companies, we are filing a criminal complaint with the prosecutor’s office.”
The broadcaster and the foundation have also warned that they are ready and willing to take the case to the international level.
The Foundation and TV Republika have partners and donors in the United States. For this reason, our American attorneys are preparing legal proceedings in the United States against those whose actions have harmed these partners and donors. Individuals responsible for material damages will also face appropriate civil claims for compensation”, informs the statement.
TV Republika has close relations with conservative Republican circles in the USA close to the US President Donald Trump.
The Trump administration is an ally of the opposition PiS aligned President Karol Nawrocki but has been highly critical of the present Polish government over its treatment of the media and attempts to overturn judicial appointments made during the lifetime of the last administration.
Tusk himself is persona non grata in the White House for his calling Trump a Russian asset.