Open letter in support of free speech in Poland and Gazeta Wyborcza’a editorial office

We, Ukrainian intellectuals, civil activists, members of PEN Ukraine, sororal and fraternal communities, express concern in relation to the attempts to deprive under the guise of a corporate conflict the most well-known Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza of editorial independence.

We unequivocally support the daily’s legendary chief editor Adam Michnik and his deputy Jarosław Kurski who raise the alarm in this regard, specifically, following the arbitrary decision of the board of the joint stock company Agora S.A. that the publication is part of, to dismiss its publisher Jerzy Wójcik who dedicated 30 years of his life to the newspaper, which by virtue of journalists' tireless efforts has turned into a large media group comprising websites, radio stations, cinemas and film studios. The next anticipated step might be Gazeta Wyborcza ’s coalescence with the online platform Gazeta.pl, which offers readers mainly simplified entertainment content. In an open letter to the readership, the newspaper’s management is apprehensive that the diffusion will lead to the staff being downsized and editorial independence sacrificed for the sake of profit.

It is explicitly obvious that these processes arise in the context of an unprecedented political pressure by the ruling party which has steered Poland since 2015, marginalizing the opposition and attempting to strip it of mass media by means of directives proven by V. Putin in Russia, V. Orban in Hungaryand V. Yanukovych in Ukraine – incessant lawsuits concerning most trifling matters, deprivation of advertising income, incitement of corporate conflicts. Nominally, the government seemingly does not cast a gag on free speech, yet forces its spokespeople to rely exclusively on foreign grants and carry out activities beyond adequate institutional frameworks.

Established in 1989, right on the heels of the collapse of the Communist regime in Poland, as the first independent publication, Gazeta Wyborcza has always been distinct in its freedom-loving approach, objectivity and political impartiality. Having remained now one of a few Polish media that can criticize the government, Gazeta Wyborcza is the spokesperson of mass civil campaigns and protests. We particularly value the dedication of the newspaper and its leadership to the ideals of Ukrainian-Polish cooperation, its support for the Ukrainian minority in Poland in defending their own civil rights, and the support for democratic powers in Ukraine in times of the callous thirty-year-long resistance against the pressure from authoritarian Russia, as well as in times of the revolutions. We grew up on this newspaper and alongside it. It inspired us for our own projects and activity. Today, next to Adam Michnik and his employees, we are in this allegedly "corporate conflict" that may lead to a roll back on free press in Poland.

There was a time when Gazeta Wyborcza and the milieu of Solidarity helped us attain freedom in Ukraine, and Poland was the role model for us. Today by supporting these communities we repay the debt of gratitude. Freedom has no borders, and if it declines in Poland, the decline will be just as tangible in Ukraine. Thus, advocating for the newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, in effect, we also advocate for freedom in Ukraine. To freedom, yours and ours!

Text of the letter in Ukrainian
Text of the letter in Polish

ONLINE FORM TO ADD SIGNATURES

The letter signatories (the list is being updated):

1. Myroslav Marynovych, publicist, Honorary President of PEN Ukraine
2. Mykola Riabchuk, writer, publicist, Honorary President of PEN Ukraine
3. Andrei Kurkov, President of PEN Ukraine
4. Ola Hnatiuk, Vice President of PEN Ukraine, professor of NaUKMA
5. Ostap Slyvynsky, writer, Vice President of PEN Ukraine
6. Tetyana Teren, journalist, Executive Director of PEN Ukraine
7. Tamara Hundorova, Doctor of Sciences, professor, member of PEN Ukraine
8. Iryna Starovoyt, docent of UCU's Department of Culture Studies, member of PEN Ukraine Excecutive Board
9. Alim Aliev, human rights defender, journalist, curator of education and culture projects, member of PEN Ukraine Excecutive Board
10. Serhiy Zhadan, writer
11. Vitaly Portnikov, journalist
12. Myroslava Barchuk, journalist, TV presenter
13. Andriy Lyubka, writer, translator from Polish
14. Serhiy Kvit, professof of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy
15. Andrij Pavlyšyn, historian, translator, member of PEN Ukraine
16. Orest Drul, editor
17. Artem Chekh, writer
18. Artem Chapai, writer
19. Vasyl Makhno, writer
20. Svitlana Povaliayeva, writer, poetess, civil activist
21. Yuri Vynnychuk, writer
22. Halyna Coynash, journalist
23. Anatoliy Dnistrovyi, writer
24. Oksaa Forostyna, author, translator
25. Halyna Kruk writer, literary scholar
26. Alexei Nikitin, writer
27. Anastasia Levkova, writer, editor
28. Petro Yatsenko, writer
29. Natalka Sniadanko, writer, translator
30. Iza Chruślińska, freelancer
31. Yevhen Zakharov, human rights defender
32. Victor Morozov, translator
33. Eleonora Solovey, Doctor of Philology, professor
34. Oles Ilchenko, writer
35. Iryna Vikyrchak, culture manager
36. Iya Kiva, poetess, translator, journalist
37. Nathalie Beltchenko, poetess, translator
38. Taras Luchuk, translator
39. Oksana Kutsenko, writer
40. Halyna Vdovychenko, writer
41. Constantin Sigov, professor of NaUKMA
42. Stepan Protsiuk, writer
43. Oleksiy Panych, philosopher, translator
44. Oleksiy Sinchenko, literary scholar
45. Volodymyr Kazarin, professor of the V.I.Vernadskyi Taurida National Uniersity
46. Askold Melnyczuk, professor of the University of Massachussets in Boston
47. Vano Krueger, poet, philosopher, culturologist
48. Oksana Lutsyshyna, writer
49. Hryhoriy Falkovych, poet, chair of the Sholem Aleichem Society
50. Olha Mukha, manager of congresses, committees and new center of PEN International (London, UK)
51. Diana Klochko, art historian, lecturer
52. Taras Vozniak, chief editor of Ї Magazine
53. Zoya Kazanzhy, journalist
54. Kateryna Botanova, critic, curator
55. Rostyslav Semkiv, professor of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, director of Smoloskyp Publishing House
56. Yurko Prokhasko, the Ivan Franko Institute of the NAS, Lviv National University
57. Pavlo Volvach, writer
58. Olha Luchuk, literary scholar
59. Olesya Yaremchuk, journalist, writer
60. Haska Shyyan, writer
61. Iryna Shuvalova, poetess, translator, researcher
62. Andriy Puchkov, art historian, culturologist
63. Yuri Matevoshchuk, director of the Ivan Marchuk Museum in Lanivtsi
64. Vakhtang Kebuladze, professor at the Faculty of Philology of the Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv
65. Mariya Tytarenko, docent of UCU’s School of Journalism and Communications of Ukrainian Catholic University
66. Kateryna Mikhalitsyna, writer, translator, artist
67. Oksana Basan, government official
68. Ihor Matsekevych, retiree
69. Hryhotiy Okhotyn, OVD-Info
70. Romana Romanyshyn, artist, Agrafka art studio
71. Andriy Lesiv, artist, Agrafka art studio
72. Arkadiy Shtypel, poet
73. Maria Halina, writer
74. Mykola Semena, criminal journalist, columnist at Ukrainian Service of Radio Liberty
75. Mykhailo Nazarenko, literary critic, associate professor of the Institute of Philology of the Kyiv National University
76. Taras Prokhasko, writer
77. Viktor Verbych, poet, essayist
78. Leonid Golberg, journalist