PiS MP and former deputy minister of justice Marcin Romanowski was certainly already in Hungary before the court's decision on temporary arrest – said the Chief of Police, Superintendent Marek BoroĊ, in “One on One” on TVN24.
Marcin Romanowski's defense attorney, attorney Bartosz Lewandowski, said on Thursday evening that the government Hungarian granted the request PiS MPformer deputy minister of justice and “granted him international protection“The information was confirmed by the head of the office of the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban.
BoroĊ: Romanowski was already in Hungary before the court's decision to arrest him
– We applied to the prosecutor's office, and the prosecutor's office to the court, so that this order (EAW – ed.) could come into force, because we knew that the MP was already outside the country – the Chief Commander told Agata Adamek in “One on One”. Police Chief Inspector Marek BoroĊ.
When asked whether more could have been done in the last few days to prevent Marcin Romanowski from leaving for Hungary, the head of the Police Headquarters replied: – We did everything we had to do.
– When the court decided to detain and arrest (Romanowski – ed.), the police could have taken action. If we are talking about the rule of law, we carry out activities when there is a decision of the authority authorized to do so. This was our action in this case – he explained. He noted that “the police's previous actions would have been unlawful.”
As the superintendent said, “people must not be surveilled before the decisions of the authorities authorized to do so.” – We operate within the law, we do not exceed these limits. Every citizen should be sure that the police, as a law enforcement agency, will not violate this law, said BoroĊ.
He added that before the court's decision, the police did not check Romanowski's location because they did not have such an order. – We couldn't know what the court's decision would be. Therefore, our actions regarding interest in the MP may have been unlawful. And then everyone would accuse us of the illegality of these actions. The police operate within the law and we will stick to it, he repeated.
When asked how long Marcin Romanowski had been in Hungary, the head of the Police Headquarters replied that he “was certainly already in Hungary before the court's decision” to arrest him, which was made on Monday, December 9.
– We are effective. We asked the prosecutor's office to issue a European Arrest Warrant because we knew during our operational work that the MP traveled outside the country, said BoroĊ.
When asked whether it was not necessary to issue an EAW earlier, he replied that “the procedure is such that at the beginning an arrest warrant is issued and after it is established that the citizen does not arrive in the country, you can apply for a European Arrest Warrant.” – We found out that he left for Hungary before the court hearing – he admitted.
Charges against Romanowski
The court agreed on Thursday issuing a European Arrest Warrant for Marcin Romanowski. An arrest warrant had already been issued for the PiS MP and former deputy minister of justice in connection with the court's decision to impose a three-month arrest on him.
Despite the search, the services failed to determine Romanowski's whereabouts for many days. The prosecutor's office stated that, according to its information, on December 6, Romanowski checked out of the medical facility where he underwent a planned medical procedure. Additionally, from that day on, the MP's phones registered with his personal data have been switched off.
The National Prosecutor's Office accuses Romanowski, who as a politician of Solidarity Poland (and then Sovereign Poland) was the deputy head of the Ministry of Justice supervising the Justice Fund in the years 2019-2023, of committing 11 crimes, including participation in an organized criminal group and fixing competitions for money from this fund.
Main photo source: TVN24