Michał K., former RARS chief arrested in London. What next?

On Monday, Michał K., former president of the Government Agency for Strategic Reserves, was arrested in London. TVN “Fakty” correspondent Maciej Woroch unofficially determined that the arrest took place at around 1 p.m. London time (2 p.m. in Poland) in a rented apartment.

As Woroch reported, officers of the special extradition unit took part in the arrest, who led Michał K. to custody. On Tuesday, Tomasz Siemoniak, Minister of Internal Affairs and coordinator of special services, was a guest on “Rozmowy Piaseckiego” on TVN24. He emphasized that Michał K.'s arrest was “the result of cooperation between the services” of Poland and Britain.

See also: Tomasz Siemoniak: We are dealing with a gigantic scandal. This material is huge

– His first, very technical and preliminary hearing will be held at the Magistrates' Court in Westminster, setting in motion the entire process that must precede his possible extradition to Poland – Maciej Woroch continued about what awaits Michał K. on Tuesday.

At this hearing, the detainee “is asked for his name and surname, to confirm his personal data, his identity, and then he is officially told on what basis he was detained”, and “at the end of this first interrogation, the question is also asked whether the detainee is ready to voluntarily submit to extradition” – explained Woroch.

– If it happened that Michał K. would like to agree to go to Poland, then the procedure would start, which in fact it can last 10 days. After these 10 days, if of course the prosecutor's office did not raise any major objections, such a detainee could be sent to the country – said the journalist of “Fakty” TVN.

If K. does not agree to voluntarily submit to extradition, “the procedure starts, which starts the court clock and starts counting down” 21 daysbecause that's how long it takes to start the process, i.e. convene and set a date for the first hearing.”

The court must check whether the arrest warrant meets the internal requirements of British law. In the case of Michał K. – as Woroch points out – the court may check “whether the detainee was not arrested on the basis of political motives”. – This, I think, may be one of the issues raised by his (Michał K. – ed.) defense attorneys – he said.

He added that “judges always try to make these cases go quickly, but of course there are legal loopholes and tricks that can lead to a case being dragged out for not weeks, not months, but even years if a lot of evidence appears”. – We may be witnessing a long trial, but if the defendant wants to cooperate, things can move very quickly – said Woroch.

Attorney Łukasz Chojniak said on TVN24 that he did not see “any grounds that could persuade the British court to refuse to extradite the detainee to Poland”.

What will happen when Michał K. is extradited to Poland by a British court? – When he (Michał K. – ed.) arrives here, normal proceedings will begin – charges will be presented, a request will be filed to extend the temporary arrest, which can probably be taken into account in such a situation – explained attorney Chojniak.

– Normal proceedings will begin, proceedings before the prosecutor, then a possible indictment and of course proceedings before the court of first and second instance. This will be the same case for the court as many other cases. It is not the same for the public or political commentators, (…) but for the law it is just another criminal case, which should be perceived as such – he said.