Ryszard Czarnecki, who was charged on Thursday, was seen on Friday evening at Chopin Airport in Warsaw. The photos were sent to Kontakt24 by one of the internet users. Prosecutor Tomasz Tadla from the Katowice prosecutor's office reported that Czarnecki is not prohibited from leaving the country.
Former MEP PIS Richard Czarnecki was detained at Chopin Airport on Wednesday by CBA as part of the Collegium Humanum proceedings. On Thursday, prosecutors brought two corruption charges against him and his wife. The suspects face up to 10 years in prison.
The prosecutor applied non-custodial preventive measures against Czarnecki in the form of a property guarantee in the amount of PLN 150,000, as well as measures in the form of police supervision combined with a ban on contacting specific participants in the proceedings. As informed by the head of the Silesian branch of the Department for Organized Crime and Corruption in Katowice, prosecutor Tomasz Tadla, this is not a ban on leaving the country.
TVN24 reporter Michał Gołębiowski asked Czarnecki's defense attorney Paweł Knap on Friday whether the former MEP would be able to leave the country. – According to the established freedom measures, he will be able to leave the country, but in accordance with the rigors and conditions specified in the prosecutor's decision, which were specified therein – he added.
On Friday evening, the former PiS MEP was seen at Chopin Airport in Warsaw. We received the photos on Kontakt24.
Ryszard Czarnecki at the Warsaw Chopin AirportKontakt24/ Internet User
Ryszard Czarnecki at the Warsaw Chopin AirportKontakt24/ Internet User
Czarnecki: I'm going to one of the EU countries next week
Earlier on Friday, Czarnecki told PAP that he intended to spend the upcoming weekend in Warsaw, and next week he would go “to one of the EU countries”. He noted that at the end of October he intended to visit Georgia.
Were The MEP said his arrest and charges were “political games”. – I did not plead guilty because it is obvious that I had nothing to plead guilty to. I am a man who respects the law, the rule of law and the justice system. I am available whenever there is a desire to talk to me. I will certainly not run away from talks with the justice system – he assured.
Charges against Czarnecki and his wife
The prosecutor brought two charges against Czarnecki. The first concerns invoking influence in the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and demanding and then accepting from the rector of Collegium Humanum Paweł Cz. a financial benefit in the total amount of over PLN 92,000 and a personal benefit in the form of obtaining by his wife unreliable documents confirming the completion of postgraduate studies at that university. In return, the suspect undertook to act as an intermediary in arranging positive decisions, assessments and opinions for the university, including consent to establish a foreign branch. The second charge concerns “taking actions that could prevent or significantly hinder the determination of the criminal origin of means of payment in the amount of PLN 92,221” (the crime of money laundering under Article 299 of the Penal Code).
The prosecutor brought two similar charges against the politician's wife, assuming that she had acted jointly and in agreement with her husband.
Czarnecki and his wife “did not admit to committing the acts they were accused of and provided explanations” – it was reported in a statement signed by the spokesman of the National Prosecutor's Office, Przemysław Nowak.
Main image source: Kontakt24/ Internet User