New York, NY, August 30, 2006 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has strongly criticized the decision of a Polish prosecutor for dropping the case against a well-known anti-Semitic radio station for broadcasting an anti-Semitic rant, calling it "disgraceful."

In April, Stanislaw Michalkiewicz, a regular commentator on Radio Maryja, a right-wing Catholic radio station with a mass audience,  openly scorned the expropriation of Jewish property during the Holocaust, declaring: "Jews have humiliated Poland internationally by demanding money." He continued: "Kikes sneak up behind us to try to oblige our government to pay them money on the pretext of these demands."

"For the prosecutor to say that Michalkiewicz's obscene and hateful speech 'must not be seen as a premeditated, offensive or insulting action' is disgraceful. It was clearly all three," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "Radio Maryja is a major factor behind the worrying rise of anti-Semitism in Poland. This is a station which has persistently broadcast anti-Semitic slanders."

Mr. Foxman, who was born in Poland and hidden from the Nazis by his Polish Catholic nanny, added: "Sadly, the Polish authorities have yet again failed to take action against a broadcaster which has roused anger across the world, including in The Vatican. If they will not stop Radio Maryja from broadcasting hate, the European Union should."

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.