On Thursday, the Warsaw district court adjourned the hearing on the prosecutor's application for pre-trial detention against the former head of the Ministry of Justice, currently PiS MP, Zbigniew Ziobro, until February 5. The reason was the defense's request to exclude the judge from the detention case.
Judge Agnieszka Prokopowicz is handling the prosecutor's request for arrest. Thursday's adjournment of the hearing is the second time in Ziobro's arrest case – the first time was on December 22 last year. the judge adjourned the hearing until January 15, then due to – as the court reported – the prosecutor's office mistakenly failing to attach classified materials to the arrest application.
The representative of the District Court for Warsaw-Mokotów, judge Michał Kusiak, officially informed the parties about the adjournment of the hearing on Thursday. As he conveyed the request to exclude the judge was submitted on Thursday afternoon and therefore it was necessary to adjourn the session.
Judge Kusiak assured that the defense's request to exclude the judge would be considered immediately. He noted that it is “very extensive and was formulated mainly in the content” of the minutes of Thursday's meeting.
– Therefore, when this report is prepared, it will be forwarded to the randomly selected judge and then this judge (…) will immediately consider this application – he added. He did not rule out that the protocol would be finalized on Thursday. Judge Kusiak noted that the court will be able to provide information on who will be the judge considering the application for exclusion after the drawing – possibly on Friday.
Ziobro's detention hearing was adjourned until February 5, at 10.
One of the defenders of the former head of the Ministry of Justice, Bartosz Lewandowski, justifying the motion to exclude the judge, told journalists that it was based “on quite extensive argumentation regarding the course of the proceedings so far, and also concerned the judge's membership in the Iustitia Association of Judges and the judge's clearly declared position on the political directions of our client.”
– If the authorities of the association to which the referee belongs expressed politically unambiguous disapproval of Minister Ziobro, then the judge is in a sense in a conflict (…), and on the other hand, she is obliged to rule impartially – said attorney Lewandowski.
The second of Ziobro's defenders, attorney Adam Gomoła, informed that
during the several-hour meeting, they submitted other motions that resulted in breaks in the meeting. – First of all, we submitted a request to postpone the meeting because there was no proof that our client had been notified of the date – said attorney Gomoła.
He noted that the defense lawyers wanted “the court to include in the minutes of the session a mention of evidence” that, in their opinion, was favorable to the former minister. – The court made a different decision in this respect, indicating that it did not see such grounds and such circumstances also caused the defense lawyers to file a motion to exclude the judge – said the lawyer.
Prosecutor Piotr Woźniak, who heads the investigation into the Justice Fund, said that the court's decision to postpone the hearing was correct from a formal point of view. – Such a request must be considered – he added. He also noted that he opposed the motion to exclude the judge.
– I believe that this conclusion basically amounted to the statement that “if the court does not take into account our assessment of the evidence and our assessment of the criminal procedure, then the court is biased.” It doesn't work that way. I opposed this motion, although the prosecutor does not decide in this respect, only the court – prosecutor Woźniak told journalists.
He has the impression that the defense's arguments have already been exhausted and that there are formal obstacles to examining the merits of the application for pre-trial detention against Ziobro. Woźniak said he was optimistic and expressed hope that on February 5, at the next meeting, the court would take a direct stance on the merits of the prosecutor's request. – Of course, I hope that he will consider this request justified – he noted.
When asked about the defense's numerous formal motions and subsequent breaks in Thursday's meeting, he replied that he “has the impression that the defense was not interested in having this motion heard today.”
The National Prosecutor's Office, whose investigative team No. 2 conducts proceedings regarding, among others, rigging competitions for multi-million grants from the Justice Fund, wants Ziobro to be imprisoned for three months.
The prosecutor's office accuses the former Minister of Justice of, among other things, 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.
According to investigators, Ziobro acted consciously to obtain financial, personal and political benefits, acting to the detriment of the state. Taking into account the prepared charges, the maximum penalty that can be imposed in this case is 25 years' imprisonment.
The Sejm revoked Ziobro's immunity on November 7 last year. in relation to all 26 charges that the prosecutor's office wants to bring against him. The Sejm also consented to his detention and arrest. On the same day, the prosecutor's office issued a decision to charge Ziobro, as well as to arrest him and forcibly bring him to the Internal Security Agency, which, however, turned out to be ineffective due to the former minister's absence in Poland.
Currently, Ziobro is under political asylum and international protection by the Hungarian authorities, who have concluded that he is at risk of political persecution. This decision was made in December last year. Ziobro himself stated, among other things, that he would remain abroad until “real guarantees of the rule of law are restored in Poland” and that he chose “to fight political banditry and lawlessness.”
Marcin Jabłoński, Nina Leszczyńska (PAP)
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