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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.
One of the leaders of the mass protests against the introduction of a near-total abortion ban in Poland has been denied security clearance by the security services.
As a result, she will not be able to continue working in a government commission investigating surveillance of civil society groups, including her own movement, by the security services under the former Law and Justice (PiS) administration.
‼️ABW odmówiło poświadczenia bezpieczeństwa @KSuchanow i jest usunięta z komisji ds. represji! W efekcie nikt nie zbada inwigilowania @strajkkobiet , a IMO tego się bali.
Zmanipulowane materiały z jej signala pomogły kampanii Nawrockiego,bo wmawiano jej przemyt ludzi z granicy👇 pic.twitter.com/ePIbnZ3NRS— Radosław Gruca (@Gruca_Radoslaw) November 25, 2025
In April this year, Prime Minister Donald Tusk established a special commission to investigate “the mechanisms of repression against civil society organisations and social activists in 2015-2023”, the period in which the national-conservative PiS government was in power.
The commission’s work was to take place in four stages. The first report, on how public media were used by PiS to “repress and defame” civil society groups and activists, was published in September.
The other three reports, which are yet to be published, relate to “legal harassment” of activists, “police actions against protesters”, and “the actions of agencies other than the police, including citizen surveillance”.
One of the members of the commission is Klementyna Suchanow, who is a founder and leader of All-Poland Women’s Strike (Ogólnopolski Strajk Kobiet), which led mass protests against the tightening of Poland’s abortion law. They were the largest demonstrations in Poland’s post-communist history.
However, on Tuesday, journalist Grzegorz Rzeczkowski revealed that Suchanow had been denied security clearance “due to the Internal Security Agency’s (ABW) concerns” about her. That means that she “cannot continue her work” on the commission, he added.
Radosław Gruca, the journalist presenting the programme on which Rzeczkowski was appearing, said that, “as a result, no one will investigate the surveillance of Women’s Strike, and in my opinion that’s what they were afraid of”.
Suchanow, who was appearing on the same show, confirmed that she was seeking to appeal the decision. In a subsequent social media post, she appealed to Tusk to take action over the issue.
The activist said that she had been denied security clearance due to an incident during the abortion protests when she had thrown paint towards police outside the constitutional court, for which she was charged with assaulting an officer.
za farbę na chodniku postawiono mi zarzut napaści na policjanta. tej nocy trafiłam do aresztu, w kajdankach, potem w prokuraturze zamknięto mnie w klatce dla groźnych przestępców, wlepiono 11 mieś. dozoru polic. i zakaz pojawiania się na al. Szucha.https://t.co/B45WjN4Lx0
— Klementyna Suchanow (@KSuchanow) November 25, 2025
The spokesman for Poland’s security services, Jacek Dobrzyński, however, defended the ABW’s decision.
“The reasons for denying access to classified information are absolutely formal and known to the interested party,” he wrote. “The ABW has no possibility in such a situation to issue a [security clearance] certificate to anyone.”
He also added that the decision regarding Suchanow creates “no obstacles to investigating the surveillance of Women’s Strike – this commission was established, among other things, for that purpose”.
Nie ma żadnego cienia na ABW. Powody odmowy dostępu do informacji niejawnych są absolutnie formalne i znane zainteresowanej. ABW nie ma możliwości w takiej sytuacji wydania komukolwiek poświadczenia. Nie ma żadnych przeszkód w badaniu inwigilacji Strajku Kobiet – po to między… https://t.co/FimgOwNI2p
— Jacek Dobrzyński (@JacekDobrzynski) November 25, 2025
PiS spokesman Rafał Bochenek told conservative broadcaster Republika that the very fact someone like Suchanow was appointed by Tusk to the commission is concerning.
“I have the impression that we are governed by very shady people who have repeatedly disturbed public order and have displayed various acts of aggression in public space towards officers,” said Bochenek.
“The current government allows these individuals to function in public life. This type of behaviour is rewarded…These people have a huge influence on those in power today,” he added, calling them “Tusk’s soldiers
When PiS was in power, it regularly criticised the leaders of Women’s Strike, accusing them of engaging in and encouraging illegal behaviour and threatening public health during the pandemic. Last year, Suchanow and two other leaders were acquitted of “creating an epidemiological threat”.
Earlier this year, Republika published the content of text messages it claimed show Suchanow offering help to activists “smuggling immigrants” over the border with Belarus. Suchanow denied being involved in any such activities
Three of the leaders of Poland’s mass protests against a near-total abortion ban have been acquitted of endangering public health by organising the demonstrations during the Covid pandemic.
One was also acquitted of insulting police and of praising crimes https://t.co/wRhDHaB6wI
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) October 3, 2024
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: Franciszek Mazur / Agencja Wyborcza.pl
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
