Distant arrest hearings in the Ziobro case. The court must analyze almost 6,000 volumes of files

I was not surprised by the court's decision to set a distant date for the detention hearing, during which a decision will be made on whether to consent to the arrest of the former head of the Ministry of Justice, PiS MP Zbigniew Ziobro, said national prosecutor Dariusz Korneluk. He added that the court has 5,800 volumes of case files to analyze.

On Wednesday, in the TVN 24 program, Korneluk was asked whether he was “surprised by such a distant date of the detention hearing in the case of Zbigniew Ziobro, convened by the court for December 22.”

I realized that it definitely wouldn't happen quickly. We are dealing with 26 very serious allegations, he replied.

As he argued, court probably needs 'that much time'to fully familiarize themselves with the evidence and the application, which is why – as he added – he was not surprised by the court's decision to set such a date. – The evidence consists of 5,800 volumes of case files. One volume contains 200 cards. Please do the math – the court must carry out such an analysis before deciding to apply a preventive measure in the form of pre-trial detention – he emphasized.

Last week, the prosecutor's office sent a request to the District Court for Warsaw-Mokotów to arrest Zbigniew Ziobro for three months. This concerns 26 allegations of abuse formulated by the National Prosecutor's Office in connection with the investigation of the Justice Fund case. A week ago, Ziobro announced that he was in Budapest. He did not clearly declare that he would apply for political asylum in Hungary or that he would return to Poland.

According to media reports, the court's detention hearing in this case, during which a decision on whether to consent to detention will be made, is to be held on December 22.

As previously explained by PK spokesman Przemysław Nowak, after the court's consent to arrest, the prosecutor could start searching for Ziobro with an arrest warrant. In turn, another court consent is required for the possible issuance of a European Arrest Warrant against Ziobro. As the PK spokesman pointed out, theoretically, the prosecutor's request for an EAW would be possible even on the day of consent to arrest.

On Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Radosław Sikorski announced that at the request of the prosecutor's office, the diplomatic passport of Ziobro, who resides in Hungary, was invalidated.

The Sejm waived Ziobro's immunity and consented to his detention and possible arrest on November 7 this year. On the same day, a few hours later, the prosecutor issued a decision to present Ziobro with 26 charges and to arrest him and forcibly bring him to the Internal Security Agency.

The charges that the prosecutor's office wants to present to Ziobro include, among others: establishing and managing an “organized criminal group, as well as setting up and manually controlling competitions for grants from the Justice Fund and appropriating money obtained in this way.” As the PK spokesman said, the total charges against Ziobro, including those regarding cooperation in granting subsidies to unauthorized entities, amount to over PLN 143 million. (PAP)

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