Letter of safe conduct for Henryk Kania. The prosecutor's office is playing with two scenarios. We know the details
The Silesian Branch of the Department for Organized Crime and Corruption of the National Prosecutor's Office has been conducting proceedings related to Zakłady Mięsne Henryk Kania in Pszczyna since 2019. Henryk Kania was not charged because he is not in the country.
However, in an interview with Business Insider Polska, he assures that the allegations against him are absurd and he wants to clarify them. Therefore, he applied for the issuance of the so-called a safe-conduct, which would enable him to return to the country and remain free until the final conclusion of the criminal proceedings.
See also: Does Henryk Kania have money? Here's how he responded to our question
Fight for safe conduct
At the end of October, the District Court in Katowice granted Henryk Kania a safe conduct, provided that he pays a surety of PLN 8 million by June 30, 2026.
However, both the prosecutor's office and Henryk Kania appealed against this decision. The former owner of Zakłady Mięsne, Henryk Kania, applied for a reduction in the amount of the deposit. The prosecutor's office demands that it be increased to PLN 30 million.
First of all, he requests the repeal of the decision to issue a safe-conduct. She opposed the granting of the letter already at the stage of proceedings in the District Court in Katowice. She emphasized that in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure in force since 2022, a letter of safe conduct may be issued at the request of the prosecutor or in the absence of his objection. This is a provision introduced during the PiS government, which was controversial from the beginning. There are voices that the prosecutor's office's objection to the safe conduct violates the suspect's procedural guarantees and his right to defense, violating the principle of equality of arms. If the prosecutor raises an objection, it is as if he had decided for the court, which can then be used by the defendant's defense attorney.
The District Court in Katowice found that the prosecutor's objection was not binding in the Henryk Kania case. The court opted for a pro-constitutional interpretation of the provision added during the PiS government. He pointed out that making the court's decision regarding the safe conduct dependent on the position of the prosecutor's office would constitute unacceptable interference of the executive authorities in the sphere covered by the monopoly of the judiciary.
The prosecutor's office does not agree with this approach. Therefore, he applies to the Katowice Court of Appeal to annul the decision of the Court granting the safe conduct, but not only that.
The prosecutor's office is playing with two scenarios
If the request to revoke the safe conduct was not accepted, the prosecutor's office prepared an alternative scenario. Firstly requests that the surety be increased to PLN 30 million. Why?
According to prosecutor Sebastian Głuch, who signed the complaint, the amount of PLN 8 million is inadequate in relation to the damage caused. As one of the criminal lawyers tells us, the amount of PLN 30 million in bail is… abstract. In Poland, a surety of one or two million zlotys is high. Although Piotr Osiecki, who was detained and arrested in 2018 in connection with an investigation into the so-called GetBack scandal, was released from custody after paying PLN 110 million bail. In total, many people contributed to it, including: Zbigniew Jakubas, Michał Sołowow, Jacek Szwajcowski, Cezary Kucharski, Dariusz Grzeszczak, Mariusz Książek, Jacek Rutkowski, Maciej Wandzel.
In addition The prosecutor's office does not like the fact that a payment of PLN 8 million is enough to obtain a safe conduct letter. Therefore, he requests that the condition for granting it be the acceptance of a surety. For a layman, at first glance there is no difference. For a lawyer, however, the difference is significant.
The transfer itself is not enough
For the prosecutor's office, it is not enough for Henryk Kania to transfer a specific amount to the prosecutor's office account. He expects that the condition will be met when the prosecutor's office accepts the surety and therefore records the action. Prosecutor Głuch emphasizes that this is pursuant to Art. 283 par. 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure that the issuance of a safe conduct letter may be made conditional on the submission of a property guarantee. And in his opinion, submission means acceptance by the prosecutor's office. However, can it happen that the prosecutor's office, which opposes the issuance of a safe conduct letter, will not accept the surety?
“It would be 'coarse', but I can imagine it,” one of the famous criminal experts tells us. We will find out what the court will do in the Henryk Kania case on Tuesday, December 9.
