Poland targets ex neo-Nazi TV chief with court move

By Gareth Jones

WARSAW (Reuters) - The Polish government called on Wednesday for an administrator to take charge of state-owned broadcaster TVP, moving to end a messy power struggle involving a former neo-Nazi skinhead who currently heads the company.

Piotr Farfal, who once edited a magazine known for its anti-Semitic, homophobic views, became acting chief executive of Polish Television (TVP) last year after outmanoeuvring rivals. Critics say his political views have shaped TVP's news coverage.

"Today I requested the appropriate court to appoint an administrator to manage and supervise what is happening at TVP," Treasury Minister Aleksander Grad told a news conference.

Grad said he had documentary evidence that Farfal had mismanaged TVP through misuse of public funds and tax irregularities.

He also urged President Lech Kaczynski to swiftly sign into law a government bill that would restructure public media.

If the court agrees to the government's request, an administrator will be able to overrule Farfal and his board in the running of TVP.

Farfal, 31, says he has renounced his youthful association with neo-Nazi ideas, which are particularly controversial in Poland, which lost six million of its citizens, about half of them Jews, during Nazi Germany's brutal wartime occupation.

Now affiliated with the staunchly conservative League of Polish Families, Farfal raised eyebrows during campaigning for June's European Parliament elections by ensuring that Libertas, a party with no elected representatives in Poland, received at least as much coverage as the country's main political parties.