Teresa Rutkowska-Szmydyńska suspended by Adam Bodnar. The decision “aims to protect the authority of the prosecutor's office”

On Thursday, a message was published on the website of the National Prosecutor's Office, in which it was announced that the Prosecutor General Adam Bodnar “today decided to suspend Teresa Rutkowska-Szmydyńska, prosecutor of the National Prosecutor's Office, from official duties for a period of 6 months, i.e. until July 9, 2025.”

As explained, “the decision was made in connection with an investigation conducted in the Internal Affairs Department of the National Prosecutor's Office.”

It was added that the investigation concerns “exceeding the powers (…) in order to achieve personal gain, by undertaking procedural activities in preparatory proceedings without a legal basis, (…) as well as influencing the scope of procedural activities performed in the preparatory proceedings as part of the internal official supervision exercised this case, in order to document the a priori thesis about the lack of data sufficient to justify the suspicion of committing a prohibited act, contrary to objective and correct findings and conclusions resulting from the material collected in the case evidentiary”.

This – according to the PK – “constituted an action to the detriment of the private interest of the identified minor victim and to the detriment of the public interest in the proper functioning of the justice system.” It was indicated that this was an “offence under Article 231 § 2 of the Penal Code”.

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As we read in the release, “Prosecutor General Adam Bodnar, taking into account the nature and importance of the disclosed irregularities covered by the investigation conducted in the Internal Affairs Department of the National Prosecutor's Office, indicating the possibility of committing a serious disciplinary offense with a high degree of social and corporate harmfulness, decided to dismiss the prosecutor Teresa Rutkowska-Szmydyńska from performing official duties.

The PK also stated that the decision of the Minister of Justice and the Prosecutor General “aims to protect the authority of the prosecutor's office, as well as the public interest, by preventing negative effects that could occur in connection with the continued performance of prosecutorial functions, including questioning the legality and justification of decisions made by prosecutor Teresa Rutkowska-Szmydyńska.

“The decision of Prosecutor General Adam Bodnar on the suspension is immediately enforceable,” it was emphasized.

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In January last year, Teresa Rutkowska-Szmydyńska was dismissed by Bodnar from delegation to the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Gdańsk and the function of the Regional Prosecutor in Gdańska position she has held since 2018.

As Rzeczpospolita reminds, “earlier, from April 2016, she was the head of the District Prosecutor's Office in Gdańsk, and from 2005 she was the head of the District Prosecutor's Office in Pruszcz Gdański”, and “in October 2023, she received the title of prosecutor of the National Prosecutor's Office.”

The daily also reports – citing “Radio Gdańsk” – that “she was one of the prosecutors who expressed opposition to the actions of Adam Bodnar, including the dismissal of prosecutor Dariusz Barski from the position of national prosecutor and the appointment of prosecutor Jacek Bilewicz to the position of acting national prosecutor.”

Her name appeared, among others, in a case related to the audit of the investigation against Ryszard Brejza and the suspicion of committing a crime by former senator Krzysztof Brejza (currently KO MEP). This audit was conducted by the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Gdańsk and shared its conclusions in December 2024.

As Mariusz Marciniak, spokesman for the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Gdańsk, said on December 23, the audit showed that there is a reasonable suspicion that official supervision over this investigation was carried out in violation of the rules independence of reference prosecutors, resulting from the provisions of the Act on the Public Prosecutor's Office.

– In the opinion of the prosecutors conducting the audit, the improper exercise of supervision was related to the unauthorized use of a managerial position and the oppressive abuse of official authority over prosecutors-cum-officials. Additionally, irregularities were also found in the application of operational control towards Krzysztof Brejza – said prosecutor Marciniak.

He added that the public official could have exceeded his powers and thus acted to the detriment of the public good in the form of a “gross violation of procedural fairness” and impartial explanation of the case.

The auditors also revealed that there is a suspicion that “the procedural activities entrusted to the prosecutor's office were not the result of the desire to achieve the goals of criminal procedure, but stemmed from the personal motivation of the former Regional Prosecutor in Gdańsk – Teresa Rutkowska-Szmydyńskaaimed at conducting this investigation in a specific direction in order to use its political potential.

In their opinion, the attitude of the then head of PR in Gdańsk was used to pursue her own interests and achieve personal professional benefits.

Rutkowska-Szmydyńska's name was mentioned by MEP Brejza on December 10 last year in “Fakty po Faktach”, when he commented on the investigation into the son of the former president of TVP Jacek Kurski – Zdzisław.

It was a case of allegedly forcing a minor to engage in other sexual activities in the years 2009-2012. The investigation was discontinued twice and – as the spokesman for the National Prosecutor's Office informed in December – a recently conducted audit showed “a number of irregularities” in this investigation. The prosecutor conducting the audit “notified the National Prosecutor's Office of the suspicion of abuse of powers and failure to fulfill obligations by the prosecutors conducting and supervising the proceedings.”

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– I know both ladies from the Pegasus case from Gdańsk. (Teresa) Rutkowska-Szmydyńska and (Grażyna) Wawryniuk – Brejza said then. The MEP said that he “would like there to be as few people of this type as possible in the Polish prosecutor's office.” – I would like the Polish prosecutor's office to rely on people who have a moral backbone – he noted. – I believe that this will happen because such a change is being introduced by the new Minister of Justice – he added.