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POLAND: Official secret law

01 September 1994

The Polish lower house of parliament, the Sejm, has passed - by 268 votes to 75 - an Official State Secrets Bill under which journalists who reveal confidential government information considered vital to the strategic, diplomatic and economic interests of the state could face prison sentences of up to 10 years. The bill is expected to pass through the upper house, the Senate, and will only be stopped if President Lech Walesa exercises a veto (a veto can be overturned by a two-thirds majority in the parliament).

The bill put forward by the ruling coalition of the Democratic Left Alliance and their rural allies follows a series of newspaper reports of corruption in government and in the police

An annex to the bill lists 71 forms of state secret punishable by prison sentences of between six months and 10 years. It is intended to replace a 1982 communist law and leaves the definition of what constitutes a "secret" to government officials and allows for no right of appeal. The bill also provides for information about security and intelligence services to be kept secret for 80 years. The Sejm rejected an amendment calling for a defence of "public interest", however the architect of the bill the Interior Ministry has agreed that journalists can reveal "secrets" but only with the consent of the Supreme Court.

The Polish Journalists' Association said: "The spirit of the law contradicts the democratic order we have been building since 1989". The Trybuna newspaper, which usually supports the government, said: "State officials tend to abuse any secrecy regulations to veil their incompetence or wrongdoings".

Balkan News, 18.9.94 & 25.9.94; Guardian, 17.9.94; Hrnet/Europe, 29.9.94.