While international press reports on potential Axel Springer split and new media structure of European and US media ownership, the company’ Polish subsidiary is facing a demand for payment of €11m penalty from businessman Robert Szustkowski.
Mr. Robert Szustkowski, an international businessman, has called on the Polish branch of Axel Springer to pay a fine which, according to the legal team representing Mr. Szustkowski, is probably the highest penalty that a media publisher may face in Poland.
“To my knowledge, this is the highest amount of a claim in Poland in a case arising from a breach of reputation by a press publisher. The basis for the claim is the delay in the execution of the out-of-court settlement by the Publisher and the contractual penalty provided for in it by both parties ” – emphasized Elżbieta Kosińska-Kozak, an attorney at Dubois and Partners, who represents Szustkowski.
This settlement was reached in October 2020, following a non-final court judgment in Szustkowski’s favor in 2020 against Axel Springer in Poland and was negotiated to eliminate the effects of the infringement of personal rights and introducing contractual guarantees to protect Szustkowski from further infringements of his personal rights.
The dispute dates back to 2017, when Szustkowski filed a lawsuit against Ringier Axel Springer Polska, the publisher of the websites www.fakt.pl, www.onet.pl, and www.newsweek.pl. The lawsuit was in response to the dissemination of false information about Szustkowski on these platforms, which he claimed defamed his reputation. Szustkowski demanded public apology from the publisher and 4 million PLN to be paid to a designated social cause.
On October 20, 2020, Warsaw District Court ruled in favor of Szustkowski, ordering Ringier Axel Springer Polska to publish an apology for the defamatory content and to pay a specified sum to a social cause. The court found that the information published on Axel Springer Polish media outlets—alleging Szustkowski’s dubious connections with Russia, including ties to the Russian mafia, KGB, and GRU—was false, harmful, and damaging to his reputation and dignity. The court also ruled that claims about Szustkowski’s involvement in “tape scandal” in Poland, were unfounded.
“My efforts to defend my personal rights are often perceived by the journalists and publishers who slander me as an attack on freedom of speech. I want to clarify that I am not attacking freedom of speech. On the contrary, I am defending it against those who abuse it. Freedom of speech means the right to express opinion, but it does not mean the right to distort reality, manipulate facts, or spread falsehoods without facing consequences or taking responsibility for one’s words. Publishers should stop uncritically publishing investigative journalists’ materials without first verifying the sources and the truthfulness of the facts” – Szustkowski said.
