The staroste of Płock, Sylwester Z., is accused of driving under the influence of alcohol, and his trial has started. The starost wanted the hearing to be postponed, pointing to the ongoing campaign before the local government elections in which he is participating. The court rejected this request.
The trial of starosta Sylwester Z. was to start before the District Court in Płock in January. The trial did not begin at that time due to the sick leave of one of the defenders. A second date has been set – for February. Then the trial started, but due to the failure of witnesses to appear, the trial was interrupted until March 26.
The accused filed a motion to postpone the hearing
When the hearing resumed on Tuesday, March 26, judge Ewa Zeidler-Ochocka announced that the accused Sylwester Z., who was absent from court that day, had previously submitted a request to postpone the date and gave personal circumstances as the reason. In the justification cited by the judge, the starosta of Płock drew attention to the upcoming local government elections, scheduled for April 7, in which he participates “actively”.
Sylwester Z. indicated in his application that the current date of the hearing “falls on the culminating point of the election campaign.” He also noted that media interest in the case “brings a wave of hate” and “a lot of false information” related to the trial.
Sylwester Z.'s defense supported his motion, arguing, among other things, that the ongoing “election campaign should be as unrelated to any other elements as possible.” The lawyers emphasized that postponing the hearing “will not change anything from the point of view of the defendant's criminal responsibility.” At the same time, they justified that the process is accompanied not only by emotions, but also by the dissemination of residual information. Ultimately, the court decided not to accept the request of the Płock starosta.
Judge Zeidler-Ochocka stated that the circumstances indicated in the application “neither justify nor justify the postponement or change of the hearing date.” She recalled that the first date of the hearing was scheduled for January and “it was not held at the justified request of the defense attorney.” At the same time, she assessed that “the ongoing election campaign is a neutral issue from the point of view of this process.”
The policemen who detained the mayor testified
Later in the hearing, the court heard the testimony of three policemen who participated in detaining Sylwester Z. for a road check. They confirmed that the arrest took place on April 6, 2023 in Nowy Gulczew on national road No. 62 after the officer on duty of the Municipal Police Headquarters in Płock reported to all patrols about the driver of the vehicle who may be under the influence of alcohol. As the officers told the court, they did not know at that time that the detained was the staroste of Płock.
The police testified that first, at the place of arrest, Sylwester Z.'s sobriety was checked with a “control and visual device”, and then, after the arrival of officers from the road traffic department, with a device giving more precise results of the alcohol content in the exhaled air. In total, the test was repeated several times, with another one performed at the Municipal Police Headquarters in Płock, because – as one of the officers testified on Tuesday – the patrol device from the road traffic department turned out to be faulty.
According to the testifying policemen, Sylwester Z. admitted that he had drunk “two hundred” drinks earlier. They also reported that the detainee followed all orders, did not stagger or speak gibberish. His car was picked up from the scene by the person he indicated; the same one that then picked up the starosta from the Municipal Police Headquarters in Płock.
The defense wanted an expert opinion
Pointing out, among others, regarding the testimony about a faulty device and its various types, as well as differences in the results of tests for the alcohol content in the exhaled air amounting to approximately 1.5 per mille, the defense of Sylwester Z. requested that the expert opinion in this respect contained in the case files be supplemented, and possibly appoint a new expert. The lawyers also requested the opinion of expert psychiatrists, suggesting that the Płock starosta may have suffered from atypical alcohol intoxication, i.e. an unusual reaction of the body to alcohol.
The court decided to dismiss the request to admit the opinion of expert psychiatrists, finding – as Judge Zeidler-Ochocka emphasized – that the evidence in the case and the circumstances of the incident “do not justify any doubts as to the defendant's sanity at the time of the act.”
In turn, in the matter of supplementing the expert opinion or appointing a new one, including the irregularities of the sobriety testing device and differences in test results, the court decided that before making a decisive decision on this issue, it would ask the Municipal Police Headquarters in Płock for appropriate information, such as what type of devices the road traffic department patrol was equipped with during the sobriety check of Sylwester Z.
The court set the next hearing date for April 22. Then – as Judge Zeidler-Ochocka announced – the policeman participating in one of the alcohol tests, which is questioned by Sylwester Z.'s defense, and the person who picked up the starosta from the Municipal Police Headquarters in Płock, and earlier, after the arrest, picked up his car, are to be questioned – this witness did not appear on Tuesday.
He apologized for the situation
In April 2023, during the meeting of councilors of the Płock district Sylwester Z. apologized for the situation, expressing hope that trust would be restored. – Due to the incident that took place on April 6 in the morning, and in which I participated, I would like to apologize to you very much for the situation – said the staroste of Płock, addressing the councilors, colleagues, and, as he emphasized, the inhabitants of the Płock district. .
Sylwester Z. also assured that he would “bear the full consequences of his actions.” – I am also at my full disposal and I intend to cooperate with full openness with the institutions that will investigate this matter, because I also want to fully explain all the circumstances of this situation – he declared. He also emphasized that he felt obliged “to work even harder for the Płock district.”
In May 2023, after the prosecutor's office charged Sylwester Z. with driving under the influence of alcohol, the Płock district council rejected the request to dismiss him from the position of starosta. PSL councilors then voted against the dismissal, which was requested by PiS councilors. At an earlier session of the district council, Sylwester Z., apologizing “for the situation”, assured that he would “bear the full consequences of his actions.”
He took over the position after his predecessor tragically died
Sylwester Z. was elected as the staroste of Płock by the district councilors at the end of September 2021. His candidacy was submitted by PSL. Previously, from 2014, he was the mayor of the Radzanowo commune in the Płock district. He took up the position after the tragic death of his predecessor, 38-year-old staroste Mariusz Bieńek, who drowned in the Vistula River near Płock in August 2021. In the upcoming local government elections, Sylwester Z. is a candidate for the Płock district council from the coalition list of Szymon Hołownia's Third Road Polska 2050 – Polish People's Party.
After detaining Sylwester Z., the police informed that an alcohol test showed that his alcohol level was over 2.5 per mille. Driving under the influence of alcohol is punishable by a fine, restriction of liberty or imprisonment for up to three years
Main photo source: Adobe Stock