The application against Romanowski has been resubmitted. Żurek: There will be a motion to exclude the judge
On Monday, a renewed application for the use of a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) was submitted against the former deputy minister of justice, PiS MP Marcin Romanowski – informed Attorney General Waldemar Żurek.
– Today – according to the information I have received from prosecutors a moment ago – a renewed application for the use of EAW against Romanowski was submitted – Żurek said at a press conference on Monday.
He added that it is “surprising” that on December 19 the court revoked the EAW “without having the case files, because the case files are in the prosecutor's office, and without notifying the prosecutor's office about the meeting.” – The court suddenly revoked the EAW without any case files. This is unprecedented, emphasized the prosecutor general. He added that the prosecutor's office will therefore also try to “bring other measures regarding this court decision.”
Marcin Romanowski – PiS MP, former deputy minister of justice – is a suspect in the investigation into irregularities in the Justice Fund. In December 2024, the District Court in Warsaw, at the request of the prosecutor's office, issued a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) against him. Later, the politician announced that he had been granted political asylum in Hungary.
December 19 this year Spokesperson for criminal cases of the District Court in Warsaw, Judge Anna Ptaszek, informed that the court had revoked the EAW issued against Romanowski. Romanowski's defense attorney, Bartosz Lewandowski, informed that the court shared his view that the investigation regarding Romanowski involved “unlawful political pressure, and the actions of law enforcement agencies constitute a threat to the rights and freedoms protected by the constitution and international law.”
“The prosecutor assesses this decision as obviously unfounded,” said Przemysław Nowak, spokesman for the National Prosecutor's Office. In his opinion, “already at the initial stage of assessment” it can be indicated that “no circumstances occurred” in the case that would justify the revocation of the EAW. “Such circumstances do not include, in particular, the granting of political asylum in another EU country or the refusal to enter the search into the Interpol system,” he said, adding that this information was in the case files and available to the court.
Żurek: There will be a motion to exclude the judge
The head of the Ministry of Justice, Waldemar Żurek, announced on Monday that the prosecutor's office will request that the judge who revoked the European arrest warrant against Marcin Romanowski be excluded from re-examination of the case. We will use this procedure, taking into account the discrepancy in the facts in the justification, he said.
The head of the Ministry of Justice announced on Monday that the prosecutor's office had submitted a renewed application to apply the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) against PiS MP Marcin Romanowski. This is the result of Friday's decision of the District Court in Warsaw, which revoked the order issued against the politician.
Żurek emphasized that in its justification the court pointed to Hungary, which granted political asylum to Romanowski, as a “model of correct action.” At the same time, he noted that the principle of mutual trust in the justice system of the member states operates in the EU countries. – We have a situation (…) where one country says: in another EU country we do not have respected democratic principles, we do not have independent courts; (…) we must grant political asylum to an EU member. This actually goes against EU law, said the Minister of Justice.
In Żurek's opinion, the court's ruling does not necessarily have to be considered final because – as he pointed out – the annulment of the European arrest warrant took place in a closed session at the request of one of the parties. He also added that the party that requested the application of the EAW was not notified about this meeting. – Some lawyers claim that an appeal should be filed against this decision – he said.
The minister also announced that the prosecutor's office will request that the judge who revoked the application of the EAW be excluded from re-examination of the case. – We will certainly use this procedure, taking into account the discrepancy of facts within the justification itself – added the head of the Ministry of Justice.
Żurek also quoted a fragment of the justification in which the court claims that it was “misled by the prosecutor's office.” – In a moment, the court will say that it knew from information in the media that Mr. Romanowski had political asylum – he emphasized, pointing out that, according to the Code of Criminal Procedure, notorious facts do not require the presentation of evidence in court proceedings. – The court had all this data regarding asylum and the red notice, but it says it didn't have it. They are in the case files, so the question is whether the court actually carefully read these files – said the minister. (PAP)
mja/mok/ andr/ kl/ rbk/
