The end of Polish democracy did not come overnight in Poland, nor was it the result of a brutal coup. Under the pretext of renewal and with recourse to the means of democracy, the ruling PiS party has deconstructed Polish democracy piece by piece in recent years — until in the end only its shell threatens to remain.

In the course of the judicial reform, the independence of the Constitutional Court has been undermined since 2017 and gradually all other courts have been brought under control. The Disciplinary Chamber, created in 2018, allows the government to reprimand or even dismiss critical judges. Repressive measures such as the lifting of immunity, suspension from service, and demotion are among the means of pressure to subordinate them to the political will of PiS.

In her project, Agata Szymanska-Medina traces the dismantling of the rule of law, the heart of democracy, and focuses on those who defend it: judges persecuted by the PiS. They represent the last bastion in the struggle for an independent judiciary, which in the end also becomes their very own.

Agata Szymanska-Medina. Born in 1981, Szymanska-Medina is a Polish photo and video journalist living in Berlin. She studied photojournalism and documentary photography at the Hanover University of Applied Sciences and Arts. Her work has been published nationally and internationally, such as in: Der Spiegel, Stern, Die Zeit, The Guardian, Politiken, Greenpeace Magazine, SZ Magazine and Dummy Magazine. Her projects have been supported by numerous awards and grants: The Magnum Foundation, The Pulitzer Center, Journalismfund.eu, Robert Bosch Stiftung, and VG Bild-Kunst.

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