Jarosław Ziętara

Jarosław Ziętara
Born
Jarosław Ziętara

(1968-09-16)16 September 1968
Bydgoszcz, Poland
Disappeared1 September 1992 (aged 23) ; declared dead in 1999
Poznań, Poland
StatusMissing for 32 years, 3 months and 18 days
NationalityPolish

Jarosław Ziętara (born 16 September 1968 in Bydgoszcz, Poland) was a Polish journalist who disappeared on September 1, 1992, and was most likely kidnapped and murdered.

Biography

Jarosław Ziętara was a graduate of Political Science and Journalism Institute of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.[1] He was a journalist of Gazeta Poznańska (he worked previously in Wprost and Gazeta Wyborcza), where he dealt among others with the investigative journalism, examining economic scandals. On 1 September 1992 he disappeared without a trace on his way to work.[2][3] At the Municipal Cemetery in Bydgoszcz, there is a symbolic tombstone of the journalist.[4]

In 1999 he was declared dead.[5]

Investigation

According to the findings of the prosecutor from 1998,[6] Ziętara was kidnapped and murdered. The investigation into the Ziętara case had been, however, terminated in 1999, because his body was not found. The investigation led by the police, as well as the prosecutor, has been criticized repeatedly. In April 2011, editors in chief of Polish newspapers Fakt, Gazeta Wyborcza, Polska, Rzeczpospolita and Super Express had made an appeal to then-Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk to declassify information about Jarosław Ziętara that were collected by officials of Office of State Protection (Polish: Urząd Ochrony Państwa) and to then-Prosecutor General Andrzej Seremet to resume the investigation of the disappearance of Jarosław Ziętara.[7][8][9] In January 2012, the investigation was reopened, this time for a homicide, not a disappearance.[10][11]

On December 31, 2013, the Prosecutor General, at the request of investigators from the Appellate Prosecutor's Office in Kraków, extended the ongoing investigation into the murder of Jarosław Ziętara until June 30, 2014.[12] In 2014, former senator Aleksander Gawronik was arrested on charges of inciting the murder of Jarosław Ziętara.[13][14] In January 2024, the Poznań Court of Appeal acquitted Gawronik of the charge of inciting the murder of Ziętara.[15]

Commemoration

Ziętara's grave in Bydgoszcz, saying:
"He was 24 years old
and in September 1992
he was kidnapped and murdered
he died because he was a journalist."

Since September 2016 Ziętara is a patron of a small street in Poznań (Grunwald district) that was sectioned from Marcelińska Street.[16] He has also been commemorated with plaques on the walls of: apartment building on Kolejowa Street, where the journalist was living (in 2016)[17] and AMU Faculty of Political Science and Journalism (in 2022).[1]

In 2022, Ziętara was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.[18]

Aftermath

The case of the kidnapping and murder of Jarosław Ziętara is the only such case in the history of Poland after the fall of communism in 1989.[19]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Odsłonięcie tablicy upamiętniającej Jarosława Ziętarę" [Reveal of a plaque commemorating Jarosław Ziętara] (in Polish). Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu. 2022-10-11. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  2. ^ "Zaginięcie redaktora Jarosława Ziętary z Poznania w dniu 1 września 1992 r." [Disappearance of editor Jarosław Ziętara from Poznań on September 1, 1992] (in Polish). Magazyn Kryminalny 997. 1999-03-04. Archived from the original on 2009-01-24.
  3. ^ Agnieszka Bartusiak (14 June 2013). "Gdzie jest dziennikarz?" [Where is the journalist?]. Rzeczpospolita (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2017-07-31.
  4. ^ Krzysztof M. Kaźmierczak (2011-03-08). "Spalone śledztwo w sprawie Ziętary" [Burned up investigation on Ziętara] (in Polish). Głos Wielkopolski. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  5. ^ "Sprawa Ziętary. Prokuratura umorzyła postępowanie z powodu niewykrycia sprawców" [The case of Ziętara. Prosecutor dismissed the proceedings due to the undetected perpetrators] (in Polish). Dziennik.pl. 2019-11-28. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  6. ^ Krzysztof Kaźmierczak (December 1998). "Zamordowany na zlecenie" [Murdered for hire] (PDF). Gazeta Poznańska (in Polish).
  7. ^ Krzysztof M. Kaźmierczak (30 October 2008). "Policja tylko pozorowała działania w sprawie Ziętary". Polska Times. Archived from the original on 23 November 2010. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
  8. ^ Katarzyna Handerek (1 September 2010). "Jarosław Ziętara - dziennikarz, któremu zamknięto usta". Dziennik Polski.
  9. ^ zw (2011-04-29). "Apel naczelnych największych gazet: "Wznówcie śledztwo w sprawie zaginięcia Ziętary"" [Appeal of the biggest primary newspapers: "Resume the investigation on the disappearance of Ziętara"] (in Polish). Tok FM. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  10. ^ "Jarosław Ziętara został zabity - uważa prokurator" [Jarosław Ziętara has been killed - according to the prosecutor] (in Polish). Polskie Radio 24 – via PAP. Archived from the original on 2022-01-25.
  11. ^ Redakcja (2013-05-28). "Myślał, że w demokratycznym kraju dziennikarz jest bezpieczny" [[He] thought that in a democratic country a journalist is safe] (in Polish). Dziennik Polski. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  12. ^ "Śledztwo w sprawie zaginięcia dziennikarza Jarosława Ziętary przedłużone" [The investigation on the disappearance of Jarosław Ziętara is prolonged] (in Polish). Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. 2013-12-31. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  13. ^ Piotr Żytnicki (2014-11-04). "Były senator Aleksander G. zatrzymany w sprawie zabójstwa dziennikarza" [Former senator Aleksander G. detained in connection with the murder of a journalist] (in Polish). Gazeta Wyborcza. Archived from the original on 2014-11-06.
  14. ^ Krzysztof M. Kaźmierczak (2014-11-06). "Aleksander G. aresztowany w sprawie zabójstwa Jarosława Ziętary [ZDJĘCIA]" [Aleksander G. arrested in connection with the murder of Jarosław Ziętara [PHOTOS]] (in Polish). Głos Wielkopolski. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  15. ^ "Koniec sprawy Jarosława Ziętary? Uniewinniony były senator. Co dalej". Onet Wiadomości (in Polish). 2024-01-19. Retrieved 2024-11-22.
  16. ^ Janusz Ludwiczak (2016-09-26). "Powstała ulica Jarosława Ziętary" [Jarosława Ziętary Street has been created] (in Polish). Łazarz.pl. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  17. ^ Łukasz Cieśla (12–13 November 2016). "Jarosław Ziętara ma tablicę pamiątkową" [Jarosław Ziętara has a commemorating plaque]. Głos Wielkopolski (in Polish). p. 5.
  18. ^ Postanowienie Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 15 lutego 2022 r. nr rej. 66/2022 o nadaniu orderów [Order of the President of the Republic of Poland of February 15, 2022, Reg. No. 66/2022, on awarding orders], M.P., 2022, No. 456
  19. ^ Wojciech Wybranowski and Łukasz Zalesiński (21 April 2011). "Kto ukrywa prawdę o śmierci Jarka Ziętary" [Who is hiding the truth of the death of Jarosław Ziętara]. Rzeczpospolita. Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2011.