DISINFO: The Polish authorities, not Sputnik journalists, create a distorted image of Poland
SUMMARY
Putting Viktor Bezeka, the journalist for Sputnik Poland, on the list of undesirable persons in Poland by the Polish Internal Security Agency is not surprising. Today, many Poles are being harassed and intimidated in their own country just for speaking to the Russian media and expressing opinions different from the position of the Russophobic Polish government. The so-called “democratic” Poland does not tolerate alternative opinions and there is no freedom of speech in this country. Poland does not respect the principles of human rights. A distorted image of Poland is created not by Sputnik journalists but by the Polish authorities, which shut the mouth of anyone who wants to know the truth – for example, by blocking access to Sputnik.
RESPONSE
This message is a part of a wider narrative about the lack of democracy in Western countries, in this case, it promotes the idea that “authoritarian” Poland punishes journalists for their opinions and views.
The Polish special services put a Russian “journalist” Viktor Bezeka on the list of undesirable persons because of his direct connection to the Russian information warfare carried out against Poland.
On 15 March 2021, the Polish authorities decided to prolong the travel ban for Leonid Sviridov (a Russian journalist working in Poland before 2014) as this person continued his anti-Polish disinformation activities after being expelled from Poland. The Polish special services expelled Sviridov to Russia in December 2015 because he was suspected of espionage in favour of the Russian special services (his case was under review since October 2014).
The claims that the Polish decision to expel these persons is a violation of the freedom of speech or a “systemic discrimination of Russian citizens in Poland” is not true as these well-identified people posed a security threat to Poland. See other examples of similar messages claiming that Polish media promote the idea that the Russians are not people, but “agents of the Kremlin”, the Polish authorities created an insane hysteria of intimidation with Russia, used for the needs of domestic politics and Poland started another wave of Russophobic political persecution of the Russian journalists.