Polish right-wing brodcaster airs staged kidnapping of fugitive opposition politician

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

A right-wing Polish television station, Telewizja Republika, has aired a fictional interrogation of opposition politician Marcin Romanowski, wanted on an arrest warrant in Poland but currently living in Hungary after the country granted him political asylum.

The 30-minute production features the staged kidnapping of Romanowski, who was a deputy justice minister under the former Law and Justice (PiS) government. Styled like an action thriller, the video depicts masked figures abducting Romanowski in Budapest, handcuffing him and interrogating him.

The video, published today on Telewizja Republika’s YouTube channel, has raised eyebrows among politicians from the ruling coalition as well as journalists, including those from a rival right-wing channel.

Romanowski, who is accused of crimes including abuse of power, participation in an organised criminal group and using crime as a source of income, faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted in Poland.

Most of the video depicts a fictional interrogation of the real Romanowski, conducted by Miłosz Kłeczek, a journalist from Telewizja Republika. Kłeczek plays the role of a government-sympathetic agent questioning the former minister on the charges against him and his decision to flee Poland.

In the video, Romanowski alleges that Poland has been “under foreign occupation” since the current government replaced PiS in power in December 2023. He describes the ruling coalition as an “organised crime group” and claims that he would not receive a fair trial in his home country.

Romanowski argues that his asylum in Hungary – ruled by Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party, a longstanding ally of PiS – is necessary so that he can continue to oppose the Polish government.

“I came to Budapest to fight this criminal, thuggish regime of yours more effectively while being able to speak about what some, while in Poland, unfortunately cannot speak about,” he says in the video.

Telewizja Republika describes the production as “journalistic fiction” in the opening credits and portrays Romanowski as a “political refugee”. The broadcaster is highly critical of the ruling coalition and supportive towards PiS.

Politicians and journalists have taken issue with the video, arguing it trivialises serious political issues. Right-wing journalist Michał Karnowski accused it on X of “ridiculing a serious matter, which is the lawlessness of the government” before adding “it’s sad to watch”.

“I understand that M. Romanowski is trying to defend himself in various ways and is pulling various stunts. But should the media participate in such manipulations?” asked Bianka Mikołajewska, a journalist from state broadcaster TVP, on X.

Foreign minister Radosław Sikorski, meanwhile, mockingly suggested that if Romanowski has been kidnapped in Hungary, it might be necessary to send a rescue team after the opposition politician.

“If a compatriot of ours has been kidnapped abroad and is being tortured, is it not necessary for a rescue team to be sent to free him and bring him home?” Sikorski wrote on X.

After the video’s release, Polish media broke the news that Romanowski has formally queried the Polish government’s expenditure on efforts to locate him.

Broadcaster RMF FM reported that, a few days ago, Romanowski filed a parliamentary submission to the interior affairs ministry requesting a breakdown of the public funds used in the search for his whereabouts, which began after 9 December 2024.

Romanowski alleged that the operation involved excessive resources, including numerous officers and significant assets, which he argued could have been better directed towards finding those suspected of committing “serious criminal offences”.

A recent IBRiS poll for Radio ZET found that 70% of Poles disapprove of Romanowski’s decision to flee to Hungary rather than face charges in Poland. Only 13% viewed his actions positively.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Telewizja Republika screenshot

Alicja Ptak

Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.