Kraków attack: Republika's police claims draw media-body and PiS criticism

What happened

On Saturday, 7 November, an attack on the Main Market (Rynek Główny) in Kraków killed six people and injured a dozen or so others, according to TVP Info. Police said their first crews reached the square within three minutes of the report of gunfire, and officers exchanged fire with the attacker. TVP Info reported that two officers were seriously injured. Interior minister Marcin Kierwiński said the same day that everything indicated the attacker held very radical views and was fascinated by far-right ideologies. On Sunday he called this an initial hypothesis that police were still checking.

Republika's live report

Tomasz Sakiewicz, president and editor-in-chief of TV Republika, ran live coverage from the square, which the channel aired before official statements from the services. On air he said police were absent from the scene and that police reserves had been sent to Warsaw, near the Constitutional Tribunal. The SDP says he also blamed a group of foreigners for the shooting, a claim the association calls untrue. In a statement published on Sunday evening, Sakiewicz said he had seen only one police forensic technician securing the area near one of the victims, and that he could not honestly have told viewers anything else. He then wrote:

“This time, however, those attacking us do not even hide that they want to ban our activity in the media and switch off the station.”

Media bodies and the regulator

The Stowarzyszenie Dziennikarzy RP (SDP) called Sakiewicz's remarks scandalous and accused the channel of lying for its own benefit. The association said that suggesting too few officers in Kraków could have enabled the tragedy was highly irresponsible, and it asked the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) to examine Republika's programming closely. The Rada Polskich Mediów also criticised the coverage. On 8 November, KRRiT member Tadeusz Kowalski issued his own statement urging the council to act against the broadcaster, saying the channel had for months aired material that breached article 18 of the broadcasting act. He added that the council can open proceedings on its own initiative, without waiting for complaints.

“Such words undermine trust in the services and turn the tragedy into a tool of political struggle.”

Political row and police figures

Jarosław Kaczyński, leader of PiS, wrote on social media that the minister's claim, made before officers entered the attacker's flat, was a "vulgar lie". He said the attacker was clearly disturbed whatever his political views, and that although the Main Market was under BRAVO alert level, only a few officers, and none with long weapons, were on duty there. He also defended Sakiewicz, arguing that the journalist simply reported what he saw. The ministry's spokesperson Karolina Gałecka replied that the PiS leader was taking his knowledge from TV Republika rather than police communiqués. She said the first patrol had responded three minutes after the call and that 30 police crews had been deployed.

What remains open

No decision by the KRRiT had been reported at the time of these statements. The police figures given by Kaczyński and by the ministry have not been reconciled in the sources. Prosecutors have not stated the attacker's motive, and Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek said on Sunday it was too early to speak about it.