Investigation into Telewizja Republika. These are the statements after the attack in Krakow

On Saturday after At 3 p.m., a black Subaru entered the Main Market Square in Krakow. 24-year-old Michał O., who was sitting behind the wheel, opened fire on random passers-by. Six people died and 15 were injured. After the attack, the police found the bodies of his 21-year-old sister and parents in Michał O.'s apartment in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski. They all had gunshot wounds. The perpetrator of the shooting died in hospital on Monday morning.

Sakiewicz said that there were no police in the square

Saturday's events were reported from the Main Market Square by, among others, editor-in-chief of Telewizja Republika, Tomasz Sakiewicz. He stated that "there is no police on site because probably all its reserves have been taken to Warsaw (in front of the seat of the Constitutional Tribunal - editor's note)." In fact, one of the policemen was standing right behind Sakiewicz. He was in civilian clothes, with a black jacket, cap and balaclava, and a police emblem was visible on his left shoulder.

Outrage after Sakiewicz's report

The Centrum Club announced that it would submit a notification to the prosecutor's office about the suspicion that Sakiewicz had committed the crime of defaming the police. On Tuesday, the Speaker of the Sejm, Włodzimierz Czarzasty, asked the chairwoman of the National Broadcasting Council, Agnieszka Glapiak, to impose a fine on Telewizja Republika. A complaint to the National Broadcasting Council against Telewizja Republika was also filed by, among others, Minister of Culture Marta Cienkowska.

This was Sakiewicz's explanation

Sakiewicz responded to the allegations on Monday on the X platform. "For several dozen hours, we have been witnessing an unprecedented attack on Republika TV and me personally," he wrote. According to him, the "attackers" of TV Republika want to "ban its activity in the media and turn off the station."

"The pretext for this is my report from the scene of the attack in the Krakow market square. Being the first journalist to start a direct report, I drew attention to the complete lack of police. Specifically, as it turned out, there was only one police criminal section technician in sight and camera range, who undertook to secure the area near one of the victims. Seeing what I saw and hearing what I heard, I couldn't honestly tell the viewers anything else," he pointed out. According to him, "the question whether the lack of police was due to their involvement elsewhere was confirmed by the facts" (original spelling).

Police search at the headquarters of Telewizja Republika

Today, officers of the Central Bureau for Combating Cybercrime entered the headquarters of Telewizja Republika. At the request of the District Prosecutor's Office in Szczecin, they provided the management of Telewizja Republika with a document requesting the issuance of a registration record and license documentation. This is related to the ongoing proceedings regarding the events before the Constitutional Tribunal.