A Warsaw court has refused a prosecution request to detain Marcin Romanowski, the former deputy justice minister in the conservative government.
Initially set to consider the matter on Wednesday morning, the session was urgently rescheduled to 11:30 pm on Tuesday after Romanowski’s lawyer presented an argument from the chair of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
The chair’s statement highlighted that Romanowski was shielded by immunity throughout the assembly’s annual session, prompting the court to reject the arrest motion.
Romanowski’s Polish parliamentary immunity was revoked last Friday and he was detained on Monday. The prosecution had sought a three-month detention for the MP. In response to a complaint by Romanowski’s lawyer, Bartosz Lewandowski, the PACE chair underlined that the MP should be freed due to his immunity.
In a letter, the chair expressed urgency for the national authorities to be informed of Romanowski’s granted immunity to suspend any judicial proceedings until the immunity is officially waived by the assembly.
Following his release, Romanowski met with journalists and described the arrest as a “colossal scandal,” accusing prosecutors of being fully aware of his immunity. He deemed the detention “absolutely unlawful” and announced plans to file a complaint against the prosecutors and those who prepared the allegedly faulty legal opinions used as a basis for his detention.
Romanowski, a former deputy justice minister, also drew comparisons between Poland’s current state and Belarus. “Local and international laws are being broken here, leading to a situation where Poland is treated as a Third World country due to such decisions by Donald Tusk’s government. This is an exceptional scandal,” he said.
Romanowski faces charges related to the Justice Fund. Investigators suspect him of committing 11 offenses, including participating in an organized group aimed at committing property crimes, exceeding authority, neglecting duties, falsifying documents, and causing substantial financial damage to the State Treasury for personal and financial gain.
