The first rule
An accusation is never presented as a finding. When a prosecutor, a politician, a journalist or anyone else accuses someone, we report that the accusation was made, by whom and when. That is all the accusation proves. Guilt is established only by a final court decision. Everyone named is presumed innocent until then.
The six source labels
Every person, case, event, claim, financial figure, video and document carries one of these labels. Hover over or tab to a label anywhere on the site to see its meaning.
- Source label: VerifiedCode: VERIFIEDBacked by official documents, a final court decision, or several reliable independent sources.Code: VERIFIED
- The item rests on official documents, a final court decision, or several reliable sources that reported it independently of each other.
- Source label: Officially reportedCode: OFFICIALLY_REPORTEDStated by an official body (SPAK, a court, the Ombudsman, a prosecutor). An accusation is verified only as an accusation.Code: OFFICIALLY_REPORTED
- An official institution such as SPAK, a court, the Ombudsman or a prosecutor published the statement or allegation. We can confirm that the institution said it. If it is an accusation, it is verified only as an accusation, not as proof that the accused did it.
- Source label: Under investigationCode: UNDER_INVESTIGATIONCredible reporting or investigative material that a court has not established.Code: UNDER_INVESTIGATION
- Credible journalism or investigative material supports the item, but it has not been established by a court or confirmed by an official finding.
- Source label: DisputedCode: DISPUTEDContested by the person concerned, or the evidence conflicts.Code: DISPUTED
- The person or organisation concerned contests the item, or the available sources contradict each other. Each side is shown where the research recorded it.
- Source label: UnverifiedCode: UNVERIFIEDAnonymous tip, social-media upload or a single unconfirmed report.Code: UNVERIFIED
- The item comes from an anonymous tip, a social-media upload (including Instagram, TikTok and X) or a single report that we could not confirm. Treat it with caution.
- Source label: DebunkedCode: DEBUNKEDContradicted by reliable evidence.Code: DEBUNKED
- Reliable evidence contradicts the item. It is kept on the site so readers can see what was claimed and why it does not hold.
A label describes the evidence for the item, not the importance of the item or the character of anyone in it. “Officially reported” on an accusation means the institution made the accusation; it does not mean the accusation is true.
Proven, alleged, open
Each case file has separate lists for what is proven (established by documents or official records), what is alleged (accusations, attributed to whoever made them), and open questions. The responses of the people and organisations concerned are shown on the same page. Where a response was not found, the page says so.
Conflicting records
The archive is built from the research collected for this site. Some people, organisations and events appear in more than one research file, and the files do not always agree. We do not quietly choose one version:
- Where a factual field differs (a date, an amount, a legal status, ownership, a source label), the page shows an orange “conflicting records” note listing every version and the sources behind it. 122 records currently carry such a note.
- Where narrative text is worded differently, the main text comes from the research file with the most sources and the other versions are shown unedited under “Other accounts”.
- Lists (roles, key facts, sources) are combined from all research files, with duplicates removed.
- Every merge, duplicate and conflict is shown on the record it affects.
Missing information
Nothing is filled in from memory or guesswork. When a field is missing, the page says “not found” and links to the gaps list, which records what the research looked for and where it could be found.
Money
Each figure is shown with the definition its source gives (a contract value, a reported loss, a seizure, a payment). A figure is flagged incomplete when its own definition says so. Figures with different definitions are never added together, and no currency conversion is applied.
- Every video is behind a content warning. Nothing plays until the reader chooses to view it.
- A video is embedded only when the researchers saved a copy or recorded a permitted embed (YouTube). All other items link to the original source.
- “What can be seen” repeats the research record. Many items were described from the publisher's text and were not watched by the researcher; the card says so where the record does.
- Items appear under Police Violence when their record mentions force, injury or weapons (for example batons, rubber bullets, tear gas), and under Protests when it mentions a protest, rally or clash. An item can appear in both. This sorting is automatic and is not a judgement about the footage.
- Social-media uploads are labelled Unverified unless other evidence supports them.
