Hajnówka. The former prime minister hit a cyclist. The court wants a supplementary expert opinion

The trial concerns the accident of May 4, 2019. According to the indictment, that morning, a 70-year-old cyclist was hit at a marked pedestrian crossing in Hajnówka. She had a broken leg bone and abrasions on her face and hands. Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz (he agrees to provide his data and image) pleads not guilty.

Witness hearings ended in March. Then the court announced that it would consider whether to seek a supplementary opinion from road traffic experts.

He then argued that the point was to analyze the road situation in such a way that it would be possible to determine where the accused's car could have been when the front wheel of the bicycle was on a pedestrian crossing.

Read also: The former prime minister hit a cyclist. Statement by Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz

According to the president of the District Court in Bielsk Podlaski (the Hajnówka court is its branch department), Mirosława Mironiuk, the court asked the Institute of Forensic Expertise in Krakow for such an additional opinion. It was this institute that prepared opinions for the purposes of the investigation of the District Prosecutor's Office in Białystok.

The court gave the experts a time limit of up to 60 days to issue such an opinion. For now, he has not changed the date of the next hearing, scheduled for mid-June. He then wants to question two more witnesses.

The trial concerns an accident that occurred on May 4, 2019 in the morning at a marked pedestrian crossing in Hajnówka. The indictment shows that the 70-year-old cyclist who was hit suffered a broken leg bone and abrasions on her face and hands.

The prosecutor's office accused the accused of unintentionally violating road safety rules, inattentive to the road and not taking special care, approaching the crossing too late, he started a braking maneuver and caused an accident; he also accuses him of running away from the scene.

Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz pleads not guilty to the charges. – I did not cause the accident and I claim that my behavior after the accident cannot be treated as running away from the scene, because I was helping the injured party after the accident – he told the court at the first hearing.

He also said that she had visible injuries, including: face. – Which could have caused a brain hemorrhage and that's why I thought she needed professional help as soon as possible – he emphasized. He also added that fleeing the scene of an accident occurs when the person's intention is to avoid responsibility by not being recognized. He emphasized that he was a well-known person in Hajnówka and the event had many witnesses.

Read more: The former prime minister hit a cyclist. A car without valid technical inspections

– For this reason, I believe that this accusation is contrary to common sense – said Cimoszewicz. He expressed sympathy for the injured party for her injuries.

Investigators announced in a statement issued after the accident that the injured woman was taken by Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz and his friends with the bicycle to her own place of residence, and then – at the instigation of the former prime minister and these friends – to the hospital.

The injured party admitted to the court that she did not remember the details of the accident, including: whether she entered the crossing, whether she was riding a bicycle and whether she looked around. She said that after regaining consciousness, she thought she had fainted, then realized that she had been hit. She filed an application for damages and compensation. However, she was unable to provide the requested amount. During the investigation, she talked about PLN 7,000. She added that treatment after the accident lasted about 5 months.