Friday’s edition of Fakt was devoted to Andrzej Duda pardoning a man sentenced for sex crimes against a child.
The paper’s front page used an image of the president subtitled in large, bold letters: “He held his daughter, hit her across the face, shoved his hand in her crotch”. It was followed by much smaller print: “Mr. President, how could you pardon someone like that?”
The front page has caused a massive scandal in Poland, as the subtitles appeared to refer to Duda himself.
President Duda explained in an interview for Gazeta Polska, that foreign media have much more influence on the market in Poland than in countries like France or Germany.
“The capital has a nationality, and its owners their own interests,” he said.
Duda emphasized that it is the editorial board which is responsible for what appears in the tabloid.
The Polish president added, however, that “the German owners of Fakt should be careful with what they are doing, as they should not give reasons to be accused of attempts to interfere with Poland’s political life”.
The president believes that the controversial cover will now be written into the dark history of Poland’s press.
