The Court of Appeal in Warsaw decided on Thursday that Father Michał Olszewski and two officials from the Ministry of Justice could leave custody after paying bail of PLN 350,000 (€80,000) each, reports wPolityce.
The bail for Fr. Olszewski was paid by the Order of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The representative of the community, together with attorney Michał Skwarzyński, is currently signing the documents at the National Prosecutor’s Office. wPolityce.pl reported on Thursday that former PM Mateusz Morawiecki and fellow PiS member MEP Daniel Obajtek expressed their willingness to help pay Father Olszewski’s bail.
His attorney confirmed that he may be released as early as noon on Friday, adding that after accepting this bail, the prosecutor’s office should immediately send an order of release. The whole procedure can take up to two hours.
Fr. Olszewski was arrested back in March on charges of colluding with officials and misuse of funds. He was the head of the Profeto Foundation, which was provided a multimillion grant under the previous conservative government to help victims of sexual violence.
In early October, Remix News reported that the National Prosecutor’s Office was stacking on charges for Fr. Olszewski, which was viewed as an action influenced by Donald Tusk’s Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar, with the ruling government seeking to keep the priest and two others detained for as long as possible and unable to speak to the media.
Since taking power late last year, Donald Tusk has been on a revenge path against the former ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, purging state media, going after the central bank head, and arresting former PiS officials and associates
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