CoE: Polish courts violated Article 10 in defamation lawsuit against a politician
by Tobias RaabIn its judgement of 14 July 2016, the European Court of Human Rights’ Fourth Section decided that ordering a politician to publish an apology for defaming a Polish newspaper violated Article 10 of the Convention (Application no. 26115/10).
In the case, Jacek Kurski took part in a live television debate. Kurski had been a Polish MP and then became a member of the Law and Justice party. During a TV show, he claimed that the newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza had “an agreement with an oil company to finance the newspaper’s mass propaganda against Law and Justice.” He stated that…