The prosecutor’s office initiated proceedings against Paweł Wojtunik. “Gazeta Wyborcza” reveals who is conducting the proceedings

On October 21, former boss CBA Paweł Wojtunik in “Fakty po Faktach” on TVN24 asked four questions to the head of the Ministry of Interior and Administration, coordinator of special services, Mariusz Kamiński. In one of them he asked if it was true that “during the briefing in Lucień (a village in Masovia, where the CBA center is located – ed.) two days before the elections, decisions, instructions were made, and recommendations were given to massively use control in the context of the parliamentary elections. operational towards representatives of opposition groups, with particular emphasis on one of the groups forming the pre-election coalition. It was about the Third Way.

On October 23, the Minister of Interior and Administration, Mariusz Kamiński, announcedthat “in connection with these insinuations, the CBA notifies the prosecutor’s office that Mr. Wojtunik has committed a crime under Article 212 of the Penal Code.” This article of the Criminal Code deals with defamation.

READ MORE: Briefing in Lucień, operational control of the opposition? Questions for the head of the Ministry of Interior and Administration

One day later in a statement from the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw it was reported that “in connection with the notification submitted by the Central Anticorruption Bureau on suspicion of committing crimes”, the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw initiated “proceedings, among others, for an act under Article 235 of the Penal Code, regarding undertaking insidious actions in order to file a complaint against the Head of the Central Anticorruption Bureau and his deputies in criminal prosecution for the crime of exceeding their powers.

“Gazeta Wyborcza” reported on Friday, November 3, citing its sources, that the proceedings in the case of Wojtunik for his words about the CBA action against the opposition are being conducted by prosecutor Agata Kasperek from the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw. – Such matters never reach random people – say “GW” sources. The daily tried to officially verify this information, but the spokesman of the unit, prosecutor Szymon Banna, did not answer questions asked about this matter. He also did not respond to a question sent by tvn24.pl until the text was published.

“Wyborcza” reminds that Agata Kasperek previously worked at the Warsaw-Mokotów District Prosecutor’s Office, and then moved to work in the Ursynów district, and was sent to the Warsaw district prosecutor’s office on a delegation. “Our sources, however, claim that she was promoted and became a manager in one of the departments in the First Investigation Department. This department is called ‘political’ by prosecutors due to the profile of many cases sent there,” writes the daily. As he adds, “Kasperek patronizes the trainees, and people who don’t cause any problems can currently count on such additional classes.”

“Wyborcza” points out that Kasperek initiated proceedings in the Wojtunik case a day after Kamiński submitted the notification.

The daily also reports that prosecutor Kasperek, while on a delegation to the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw, dealt with due to Krystyna Pawłowicz’s entryformer MP PIS, and currently a member of the Constitutional Tribunal, where she disclosed the details of a transgender child. Several politicians reported this matter. After a wave of criticism, Pawłowicz deleted the entry. She later wrote that she did not want to “embarrass the child” and that she apologized to her.

“GW” reminds that in May 2021, the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw refused to initiate proceedings due to the lack of elements of a crime. The daily adds, citing the Gazeta.pl portal, that prosecutor Kasperek signed the decision.

“Gazeta Wyborcza” also writes that the crimes of defamation and slander are prosecuted in private proceedings. “This means that the case is not initiated by the prosecutor’s office, but the indictment is sent directly to the court by the person or institution that feels defamed. The prosecutor’s office may join in if it considers that this is the public interest or the slandered person/institution is “incompetent.” – explain.

This is why – adds “GW” – when announcing its decision, the prosecutor’s office said that the investigation would be conducted mainly under Article 235 of the Penal Code, which provides for a penalty (from 3 months to 5 years in prison) for “creating false evidence or other insidious procedures” in order to ” referral of suspicion of a crime. At the same time, the prosecutor’s office joins the notification regarding Article 212 of the Penal Code, i.e. defamation.

– There is no social interest in prosecuting this type of case ex officio, because the victims are not helpless. They can defend their good name on their own. And it is completely absurd to conduct a case under Art. 212 of the Penal Code at the district level – one of its interlocutors told “Gazeta Wyborcza”.