CENTRAL ANTI-CORRUPTION BUREAU always in the interest of Poland Statement regarding the article by the editors of Superwizjer TVN - News

Journalism consisting in the use of the natural death of a man, no matter how tragic it is, to attack a state institution solely because the man's death occurred while performing work on the premises of this institution, and at the same time basing the material on false information provided by an anonymous informant - deserve special condemnation. The man's death was due to natural causes, independent of other people, entities and institutions, and could have occurred at any time and in any other place. The level of journalism presented in the commented article is outrageous.

Reporter J. Stachowiak asked the CBA to respond on Saturday afternoon. The answer to the questions asked was provided to the journalist by the CBA Press Team on Monday at 4:54 p.m. Below we publish the full position of the CBA sent to the journalist, because most of the information sent was not included in the published text, and the information that was used was given a pejorative connotation.

Dear Mr. Editor,

In response to your questions, I confirm that on August 16, 2023, on the premises of the CBA Regional Office in Łódź, the death of a person performing gardening work on behalf of an external entity occurred. The deceased was an employee of the company with which the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau signed a contract in 2022 to provide comprehensive cleaning and maintenance services in the building and on the property around the building. On that day, an employee of an external company performed cleaning work ordered by the CBA to the company he represented.

An officer of the security service of the Regional Office of the CBA in Łódź, during routine work, discovered an employee of an external company lying on the floor in the garage, without any signs of life. He immediately notified the appropriate emergency services and then began cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Paramedics who arrived at the scene, pronounced the man dead.

Police officers were called to the scene. All activities related to this incident were carried out by officers of the Municipal Police Headquarters in Łódź. During the examination, the forensic doctor did not find any involvement of third parties, indicating that the death was due to natural causes.

The officers of the Regional Office of the CBA in Łódź notified the deceased's relatives, his employer and the District Labor Inspectorate in Łódź about the man's death.

Referring to the last question, I would like to inform you that no inspections are being carried out or planned at the CBA Regional Offices in any way related to this tragic event. Of course, routine activities are carried out, including inspections of various organizational units of the CBA, but none of them is related to the situation described.

During a direct telephone conversation with a representative of the CBA Press Team, editor J. Stachowiak indicated that he had been provided with information that the deceased man "did not return home at night" and died on the day before the Central Anticorruption Bureau took action. The CBA officer firmly denied such information. It should be noted that August 15, 2023, Polish Army Day, is a public holiday, and the facility of the CBA Regional Office in Łódź was closed on that day, while on August 14, 2023, the employee was on vacation leave. The last time before this tragic event the deceased employee was at work was on Friday, August 11, 2023. The material collected in this case shows that on August 16, 2023, the employee was last seen by CBA officers around 11:00.

The above information should make the journalist raise doubts concerning the credibility of the source. Meanwhile, the text does not indicate that its author attempted to verify the remaining information provided by the anonymous informant with the relevant authorities, for example the Prosecutor's Office. Ed. J. Stachowiak only omitted untrue threads and arbitrarily gave credibility to the rest.

Referring to the lack of response from the employer of the deceased employee to the journalist's questions, I would like to inform you that the contract concluded between the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau and the employer of the deceased provides for an obligation to keep confidential all information related to its implementation, which obligation may be waived by the other party to the contract in relation to specific situation. On Thursday, August 31 this year, at 10:55, the Regional Office of the CBA in Warsaw received an e-mail from the employer requesting the CBA's position on the possibility of disclosing information covered by the contract to a media representative. In response to this letter, on September 1 this year, at 10:45 (i.e. a few hours before the publication of the article in question), the employer was informed that the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau consented to providing full information to the media.

According to the information available, the deceased employee had been routinely performing his duties at the Regional Office of the CBA in Łódź for many years, and had enjoyed the respect and sympathy of the Regional Office's officers and employees. The scope of his daily duties was regulated by the contract concluded with his employer and it stipulated - generally speaking - maintaining cleanliness and taking care of the external area around the Regional Office. The stay and the nature of the tasks performed by the experienced employee at the facility did not require constant supervision by the CBA officers.

On that day, he did not report any health problems, his behavior did not raise any doubts as to his health condition, and he performed his duties in a manner consistent with the norm. Moreover, due to the fact that he performed his work outside the building, the employee had permission to bring and have a mobile phone with him while working on the premises of the CBA branch office, as a result of which he had constant contact with the employer, family and officers of the Regional Office of the CBA in Łódź. The man was found in a utility room not covered by the monitoring system.

Pursuant to the contract, the employee could perform his work during the working hours of the CBA Regional Office in Łódź, i.e. until 4 p.m., and therefore his presence on the premises at that time could not constitute grounds for concern on the part of the security service.

In the light of the circumstances described above, the article by J. Stachowiak is an example of unreliable journalism in which the facts are only the background for the preconceived thesis.

dr Robert Sosik

Press Team CBA