Former head of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, Tomasz Arabski, acquitted in the case of organizing a flight to Smolensk

In June 2019, the District Court in Warsaw convicted Tomasz Arabski of failing to fulfill his duties in organizing the flight to Smolensk. Judge Hubert Gąsior, justifying the verdict, pointed out that not only the convicts were at fault in the case, but also state institutions, including Chancellery of the President and army. The information about the acquittal of Arabski and two other officials was first reported by RMF24 on Monday. Leszczyńska-Furtak confirmed that two previously convicted persons, including Arabski, were acquitted, while the acquittal was maintained for the third one. In the case of two other officials, the acquittals became final earlier.

One of the main arguments of the defense was the lack of authorized prosecutors regarding the organization of the flight investigated in this trial. According to the defense, the actions of the convicts had no direct connection with Smolensk disaster – the intermediate link was the 36th Special Regiment, whose pilots sat at the controls of the plane. Therefore, according to the defenders, the victims' relatives were not legitimate prosecutors in this trial.

Arabski's defense attorney, attorney Katarzyna Gajowniczek-Pruszyńska, said on Monday that one of the reasons for the acquittal was the lack of a complaint from an authorized prosecutor within the meaning of the provisions of the Penal Code. Secondly, the court found that it was not possible to attribute criminal liability to Arabski. In the context of these allegations, she pointed to the responsibility of other people – including those from the 36th Special Regiment. She added that the court agreed with all the defense arguments contained in the appeal and in the decision of prosecutor Józef Gacek, who discontinued the proceedings twice.

The trial was initiated by the accusations of the relatives of the victims of the Smolensk disaster. Its basis was Art. 231 of the Penal Code, which provides for up to 3 years in prison for failure to fulfill the duties of a public official. The indictment was filed after the Warsaw-Prague District Prosecutor's Office legally discontinued the investigation into the organization of the flights of the Prime Minister and President to Smolensk on April 7 and 10, 2010.

In June 2019, the Warsaw District Court in the first instance illegally sentenced Arabski to 10 months in prison, suspended for two years. The court also found guilty Monika B., an official from the Prime Minister's office, and she was sentenced to 6 months' imprisonment, suspended for a year. The three remaining accused officials – Miłosław K. from the prime minister's office and Justyna G. and Grzegorz C. from the Polish embassy in Moscow – were acquitted by the court.

The SO then found Arabski “guilty of failing to fulfill his duties as coordinator responsible for organizing flights of Polish military aircraft in the period from March 16, 2010 to April 10, 2010 in Warsaw, as the head of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister.” “In connection with the foreign visit of the President of the Republic of Poland and his accompanying persons to the territory of Russia, planned for April 10, 2010, he allowed the use of special air transport, knowing that there is no airport in Smolensk where landing operations would be allowed, which caused a real danger ” – ruled the court of first instance.

Both the prosecutor's office, which wanted, among other things, a ban on Arabski from holding managerial positions, and the defense, which asked for his acquittal, appealed against the verdict.

In June 2021, the Court of Appeal in Warsaw upheld the penalties imposed on Arabski and B. in the first instance. The only change was a modification of the description of the crime they were accused of. The idea was to expand it to include a mention of acting to the detriment of the public interest and private interest. All acquittals were then upheld.

Cassation in this case was filed by the defense lawyers of the two convicts, as well as the prosecutor's office – to the detriment of Miłosław K., another official who was legally acquitted by the courts. Supreme Court dismissed the cassation appeal to the detriment of K., but due to the general decision of the Supreme Court, the acquittal was also quashed.

In December last year, the Supreme Court overturned the judgment of, among others, Arabski and B., the main reason for which – according to the Supreme Court – was the “inappropriate staffing” of the court of second instance. This included the selection of two judges to hear the case in SA in a procedure already carried out before the National Council of the Judiciary after 2017 and the reform of this institution.

The Supreme Court then pointed out that there were inconsistencies in the first-instance court's reasoning. However, he added, examining other grounds of the cassation appeal would be premature due to the formal reason for overturning the judgment.