Zbigniew Ziobro with a Geneva passport. He can travel, but risks arrest

Former Minister of Justice, PiS MP Zbigniew Ziobro, who received international protection in Hungary, will receive a travel document provided for in the Geneva Convention. This will enable him to move around, said the attorney on Monday. Bartosz Lewandowski, one of the defenders of the PiS politician.

Earlier on Monday on This decision was made due to – as the Hungarian authorities recognized – violations of rights and freedoms in Poland and, among others, actions of the prosecutor's office, which resulted in “a number of actions bearing the hallmarks of politically motivated political repression.”

Ziobro without a Polish passport

At a press briefing, Lewandowski recalled that as a result of the actions of the current Polish authorities towards his client, his passports were invalidated, which – as he assessed – was an additional repression and demonstrated the special involvement of the services in this case. The National Prosecutor's Office, which is conducting a multi-threaded investigation regarding, among others, rigging competitions for multi-million grants from the Justice Fund.

– Pursuant to this decision, an appropriate document of the Geneva Convention will be issued, which allows my client to move around, said the lawyer.

In response to PAP's question, the politician's defender clarified that the basis for issuing this document would be the decision of the Hungarian authorities to grant international protection to Ziobro. – Minister Ziobro is treated as a person under international protection due to political persecution in his country – he added.

According to him, Ziobro is currently in Hungary. However, the lawyer did not want to comment on his client's possible plans.

What does the Geneva Travel Document give you?

The Geneva Travel Document (GDP) does not give the holder additional protection against law enforcement. This document acts as a passport, which a refugee cannot generally obtain in his home country, and does not confer any special privileges or rights on the holder other than the right to travel to and return to the country that issued it. GDP also allows travel to countries that honor it. In Hungary, after obtaining refugee status, the document is requested from the National Directorate General for Foreigners (OIF).

This document is issued to persons with refugee status under the Geneva Convention of 1951 by the country where the refugee lives. The so-called The Geneva passport does not provide protection against national or international arrest warrants, including EAWs. Any protection for a given person may result from his or her refugee status, but the document itself – the Geneva Travel Document – does not provide additional privileges in this respect.

Prosecutor's charges

In turn, Ziobro stated on Monday at X that he would remain abroad until “real guarantees of the rule of law are restored in Poland.” He also informed that he had applied for international protection for his wife, Patrycja Kotecka.

Ziobro is under investigation by the National Prosecutor's Office, which accuses him of leading an organized criminal group and using his position for criminal activities. Ziobro allegedly committed 26 crimes, including: give orders to his subordinates to break the law in order to provide selected entities with subsidies from the Justice Fund, interfere in the preparation of competition offers and allow funds to be awarded to unauthorized entities.

A meeting of the District Court for Warsaw-Mokotów is scheduled for January 15, which is to address the prosecutor's request to detain Ziobro for three months. (PAP)

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