Investigators from the District Prosecutor's Office in Kielce dealt with the case of possible abuses at the Central Board of the Prison Service and the Prison in Rzeszów. This concerns exceeding the rights under the “Work for Prisoners” program, as well as contracts for the lease of production halls. The message includes a link to the Black on White material, in which we informed about the case.
Daniel Prokopowicz, spokesman for the District Prosecutor's Office in Kielce, announced that the investigation is related to allegations of exceeding powers and negligence in the implementation of the “Work for Prisoners” program and in matters related to the lease of production halls on the premises of the Rzeszów prison in the period from January 2020 to August 2024.
Read also: Bodnar on the “shocking material” TVN24: I hope Jaki, Woś and Ziobro found time to watch it
The case concerns the rental of two production halls on the premises of the Prison in Rzeszów, built for over PLN 35 million as part of the “Work for prisoners” program. The program, financed from public funds, assumed the use of halls for the employment of inmates by private entrepreneurs. The verification investigation will last up to 30 days, after which a decision will be made whether to initiate an investigation.
Investigators are investigating the case
The notification of suspected crimes was submitted by the Director General of the Prison Service, who requested the exclusion of the prosecutor's unit from the Rzeszów region, which was accepted by the National Prosecutor's Office. The case was then referred to the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Kraków, which appointed the District Prosecutor's Office in Kielce to handle it.
“The Regional Prosecutor's Office in Krakow informs that the notification of the Director General of the Prison Service regarding the possibility of committing crimes consisting in exceeding the powers and failure to fulfill duties by public officials from the Central Board of the Prison Service, the District Inspectorate of the Prison Service in Rzeszów and the Prison in Rzeszów and the notification of the president of the established company with o. o., which concerns the suspicion of committing a crime in connection with the submission by the Director General of the Service The prison notifications described above, sent by the National Prosecutor's Office, were forwarded to the District Prosecutor's Office in Kielce for further processing,” we read in the release.
Work for a prisoner – prison in Rzeszów tvn24
Materials related to the case were transferred to the Kielce unit on November 13, 2024, and the prosecutor assigned to the case is currently analyzing the collected documents.
The prosecutor's office in Kielce also received a second notification, submitted by the president of the company concerned. The report indicates a suspicion of committing a crime in connection with the notification of the Director General of the Prison Service. In the coming days, the District Prosecutor's Office in Kielce will appoint an appropriate unit that will handle the second proceeding.
The Regional Prosecutor's Office in Kraków, in a press release published on its website, referred to the material in the case that appeared in “Black and White”.
Adam Bodnar comments
The Minister of Justice and the Attorney General commented on the material on social media Adam Bodnar. “I watched a shocking material produced by TVN24's 'Black and White' about irregularities in the implementation of the flagship program of Sovereign Poland (today PiS) 'Work for prisoners',” he wrote.
Work for a prisoner – prison in Rzeszów tvn24
“I hope that Messrs. Patryk Jaki, Michał Woś and, above all, Zbigniew Ziobro found time today to watch the program. The case is already being dealt with by an independent prosecutor's office. Maybe, however, the gentlemen who organize various press conferences so often will devote one of them to explaining this matters,” he emphasized.
“It is worth explaining to the public how a fellow party entrepreneur got a chance to run a profitable business using state money and what happened to this money later,” he added.
Main photo source: tvn24