Police deliver demand to Republika TV for recordings of 16 October Tribunal broadcast

The demand

On Thursday, 12 November 2026, officers from the Central Cybercrime Bureau (CBZC) arrived at the headquarters of Telewizja Republika. Acting on an order from the District Prosecutor's Office in Szczecin, they handed station management a document demanding the recording of a broadcast and the station's concession documentation. The request is linked to an investigation into events of 16 October in front of the Constitutional Tribunal, which the station aired at the time.

Prosecutors want all files holding the recording of the programme broadcast on 16 October between 12:00 and 14:59, covering the coverage of events outside the Tribunal. The suspicion is public insult of police officers and the Prime Minister. Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński filed the complaint. The probe examines calls to pass on information about a female police officer's private life and to publish it without her consent, in circumstances that could threaten her safety or that of people close to her. It also covers on-air ticker strips and reporters' remarks that the prosecutors treat as insulting. Reports do not say whether a deadline has been set for handing over the material.

Station refuses, a scuffle follows

Republika broadcast the handover live. Editor-in-chief Tomasz Sakiewicz and journalists refused to accept the document and argued with the officers. Onet reported a clash between officers and station staff, and after several minutes the police left the building. Several camera crews followed them, and station employees, including camera operators, boarded a metro carriage behind them. Two Law and Justice MPs, Dariusz Matecki and Mariusz Gosek, also took part and demanded to see the details of the document, Onet reported.

Sakiewicz framed the demand as a far more serious matter. He told the station's audience:

“In Poland a coup is under way, organised with the police's participation, and you expect us to hand over materials so the police can defend itself?”

The station cites journalistic confidentiality, which Sakiewicz and programme director Michał Rachoń said cannot be waived at will. Station representatives described it as a basic guarantee of media independence rather than a matter of discretion.

Allegations of a planned police operation

Rachoń said the police structure involved was carrying out actions that he described as unlawful. He said:

“If the police bring illegal judges into the Constitutional Tribunal, they are taking part in a coup d'etat.”

Jarosław Olechowski said the station had information that officers would enter the building the day before the Constitutional Tribunal was taken over on 30 October. According to him, the officers would seize electronic equipment and stop the station from broadcasting, so the footage could not be shown during the operation. The claim comes from the station, and none of the articles carry a police response to it.

During a metro ride, Rachoń asked an inspector whether he belonged to a WhatsApp group about TV Republika in which, he said, politicians also take part. The station says the informal group is used to coordinate action against it, a claim the articles do not verify. The officer declined to answer and said questions about his private life did not belong there.