PiS MP Janusz Kowalski and the Karnowski brothers' media spread photos of Marcin Romanowski staying in hospital on the day the court decided to arrest him. It later turned out that the published photos were taken a few days earlier, and the MP wanted on an arrest warrant had undergone a planned procedure, not a “serious operation”. The course of events resembles the website of “Gazeta Wyborcza”. He asked the National Prosecutor's Office whether those publications were misleading to law enforcement agencies.
On December 9, the District Court for Warsaw-Mokotów decided on temporary arrest for PiS MP Marcin Romanowski. The former deputy minister of justice did not appear in court. His defense attorney Bartosz Lewandowski then announced that Romanowski had undergone “a very serious surgery.”
In turn, PiS MP Janusz Kowalski published a photo of a politician on social media. “MP Marcin Romanowski. After serious surgery. With hemorrhage. Tusk and Bodnar bear full responsibility for the life of MP Romanowski, who will be their next political prisoner,” Kowalski wrote on the X platform.
Today it is known that Romanowski was released from the hospital three days earlier – on December 6. Wyborcza.pl therefore asks whether the information about the PiS MP's stay in the hospital was “merely manipulating public opinion or misleading law enforcement authorities.”
Photo of Romanowski in the hospital
Romanowski did not come to the court hearing on December 9. His defense lawyer, Bartosz Lewandowski, told the media that the former deputy minister had undergone a very serious operation, had a hemorrhage and had complications. – The man actually escaped with his life (…), Mr. Romanowski came back from the other side – Lewandowski's words are recalled by the Wyborcza website.
Marcin Romanowski is in hiding, although he assured that he would not do soKatarzyna Kolenda-Zaleska/Fakty TVN
When the information about the court's decision to arrest was published, the red bar of TV Republika read: “Tusk's supporters are persecuting opposition politicians and the Justice Fund”, and two hours later, wPolsce24 TV – associated with the PiS-supporting brothers Jacek and Michał Karnowski – published photos of Romanowski on hospital bed.
As Wyborcza.pl points out, Romanowski's hospital photos also appear on the Karnowski brothers' website wPolityce.pl. In addition to the photo, there was “a text with information that Romanowski 'recently' underwent a serious operation. And information that the photos of the MP in the hospital were delivered to the court,” Wyborcza.pl reports.
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Later, PiS MP Janusz Kowalski spoke. He published a photo of Romanowski from the hospital on the X platform with the comment: “After serious surgery. With hemorrhage. Tusk and Bodnar bear full responsibility for the MP's life.” Wyborcza.pl reminds that “later, most media refer to MP Kowalski's entry. It had over 230,000 views until yesterday.”
Janusz Kowalski entry Romanowski
Romanowski had a planned procedure
As described by the “Wyborcza” website, the National Prosecutor's Office and the media reported a few days later that Romanowski “did not undergo a life-saving surgery, but a planned nose surgery on December 4, and he discharged himself from the hospital two days later.”
According to Onet, MP Romanowski “signed out at his own request.”
On December 6, Marcin Romanowski disappeared. The police did not find him in the selected locations, an arrest warrant was issued for him, and on Wednesday, national prosecutor Dariusz Korneluk announced that he would be taken to court application for a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) against the MP.
Photo published by Janusz Kowalski on the X platformX/Janusz Kowalski
Did the MP and the Karnowski media obstruct the proceedings?
December 12 spokesman Ministry of Interior and Administration Jacek Dobrzyński warned on the X website anyone who would like to help MP Romanowski. He reminded that a person who obstructs “criminal proceedings” – including the investigation – may face up to 5 years in prison. by helping the perpetrator avoid punishment or “hiding the perpetrator of the crime”.
Wyborcza.pl asked the spokesman of the National Prosecutor's Office, prosecutor Przemysław Nowak, whether “manipulation of information about a serious illness or the stay of MP Romanowski in hospital when he was no longer there can be considered as obstructing the proceedings.” Nowak told “Wyborcza” that no such investigation is currently underway.
Main photo source: PAP/Paweł Supernak