Zbigniew Ziobro, the former Polish justice minister under the conservative Law & Justice (PiS), has received asylum in Hungary as a political refugee, and former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has come out in support.
“I’m not surprised in the sense that I read this justification. Political asylum was granted because the prosecutor’s office acts as a politically motivated body. Let’s ask ourselves, is it politically motivated? Of course it is. (…) Is Zbigniew Ziobro being prosecuted for political reasons? Of course he is. That’s why this decision isn’t strange to me,” the former prime minister and current PiS vice-president told RMF FM, as cited by Do Rzeczy.
Ziobro is being investigated for alleged financial crimes involving the misuse of the Justice Fund for personal and political gain, alongside charges related to the Pegasus spyware scandal, where he’s accused of illegally monitoring political opponents, journalists, and judges. The former minister repeatedly failed to appear before the parliamentary committee investigating the Pegasus scandal, leading to a court order for his potential 30-day detention for contempt.
Morawiecki was asked if he himself would be able to seek political asylum. “I certainly won’t be seeking asylum anywhere. Let them judge me here however they want, even if there’s a risk of arrest. If necessary, I’ll show up wherever I’m needed. I’ll fight this government here on the hard ground,” he stated.
When asked about the current political situation in Poland, the former prime minister assessed that “it’s something between dictatorship and democracy, or democratura.”
“Prosecuting political opponents is a characteristic of autocratic systems,” he emphasized.
