Polish Surveillance of Journalists, Politicians Constitutes 'Repressions'

The surveillance that the Polish special military services carried out against journalists, scientists and politicians that took place under the country’s previous government was groundless and amounted to political repression, Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Wednesday, the Polish cabinet minister in charge of the national security, Mariusz Kaminski, said the country’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) illegally watched dozens of journalists and activists under the previous administration.

"Military special services conducted surveillance against not 20, but more than 40 people – politicians, journalists, publicists and scientists… there were no grounds for this and these were political repressions," Macierewicz told the TVP television channel Thursday.

In February, a new law expanding government surveillance powers came into force in Poland. Under the law, Poland's Interior Ministry gains the ability to access citizens' personal data, communication and internet records without requiring a court's decision.