Members of the board of the Lux Veritas Foundation, including Tadeusz Rydzyk, will finally stand trial. Citizens' Network Watchdog Polska accuses the Lux Veritas board of failing to provide public information about activities financed with public funds.
The association Watchdog Polska fought for five years to make the Lux Veritatis Foundation disclose the state's co-financing of investments. Several years ago, Watchdog Polska reported on how the financing mechanism for the foundation of Redemptorist Tadeusz Rydzyk operates. According to data obtained by Watchdog, Lux Veritatis was also subsidized by the PO-PSL government, while under the Law and Justice government, the tap of money from citizens was simply opened even wider.
Thanks to the efforts of Citizens' Network Watchdog Polska, we learned about some of the funds granted to Lux Veritatis by state institutions. The list showed that from the beginning of the Law and Justice government's rule—that is, from October 2015 to June 2016—the Rydzyk foundation received PLN 1,391,147 from the state.
We will ask our guest, among other things, how he managed to bring Rydzyk before the court, and what this means for the rule of law in Poland.
Statements by Szymon Osowski from the interview:
Every foundation must operate transparently. We never wondered who manages the Lux Veritatis foundation.
We are probably the first who will bring about Father Rydzyk being charged.
We received a response from Lux Veritatis saying that we have no right to ask about the money. As a society, we should know what the money from Lux Veritatis was spent on.
Press materials about us are being produced: who we are, who finances us...
The court asked whether we were willing to mediate. We are, but we expect the information to be made available.
I am inspired by the attitude of the people who fight for transparency.
The parliamentary majority favors Tadeusz Rydzyk. In none of the cases did the prosecution support us, including the one concerning Lux Veritatis. The prosecution stated that such proceedings should not take place.
Szymon Osowski for istotne.pl
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