The Sejm committee has decided on the immunity of Marek Sowa

Applications to lift Marek Sowa’s immunity were filed by Maciej Lisowski, who wants to sue the KO MP for defamation during the sessions of the parliamentary inquiry committee on the visa scandal.

Lisowski is the president of an employment agency and head of the Lex Nostra foundation. He was also a social assistant to the former deputy minister of agriculture, Lech Kołakowski. The investigation committee's work shows that Kołakowski intervened in the matter of visas for people with work permits issued at the request of Lisowski's employment agency. Kołakowski subleased premises from him for PLN 50 per month for a parliamentary office. Lisowski also dealt with Kołakowski's parliamentary affairs.

At Wednesday's meeting of the commission, Lisowski's attorney, attorney Tomasz Kuśmierek, explained that the motions concern Marek Sowa's statement from June. According to the attorney, Marek Sowa – then deputy head of the investigative commission – allegedly slandered Maciej Lisowski and damaged his good name, among other things by saying that he had found a printout from the National Criminal Register, which shows that “since the end of the 1990s, Lisowski has been convicted by courts throughout Poland 13 times for the crimes of fraud and money laundering.” Kuśmierek argued that this was not true and presented a printout from the National Criminal Register from September 6, 2024, which contains information about Maciej Lisowski's lack of previous criminal record.

Moreover, as he said, Sowa was to accuse Lisowski of being a Belarusian or Russian agent. – In the context of the current geopolitical situation – especially conflict in Ukraine – this means that Mr. Maciej Lisowski, who is treated by the public as a potential agent of the Belarusian or Russian secret services, is an unreliable trade and business partner – added the lawyer.

Marek Sowa said that the charges brought against him concern the hearing of MP Lech Kołakowski before the visa committee, during which the committee managed to “precisely and accurately” establish the issue of the witness's cooperation with Maciej Lisowski.

– In the conclusions of the investigative committee, allegations will be directed to the prosecutor's office about the possibility of a crime being committed by both Mr. Lech Kołakowski and Mr. Maciej Lisowski – announced the KO MP. – Mr. Lech Kołakowski performed every service or whim of Mr. Lisowski, who, apart from running the foundation, also ran the employment agency So Job, which was involved in bringing economic immigrants to Poland, and the headquarters of this company was exactly where the headquarters of MP Kołakowski's parliamentary office is – said Sowa.

The KO MP explained that he based his statements on three sources: Angora's article from June 23, 2019 “Asystent z przeszłością”, the book “Uwikłany. Nieauthoryzowana biografia Zbigniewa Ziobro” and the Arbinfo portal by Tomasz Piątek.

Sowa's defender, KO MP Konrad Frysztak, argued that both motions are intended to distract attention from the work of the visa scandal committee. In his opinion, these are SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) lawsuits, i.e. aimed at creating a chilling effect and intimidating people involved in the public debate. He added that the only purpose is to “shut Mr. Sowa's mouth” so that he does not ask questions and does not summon Lisowski before the committee.

In a secret vote, the Sejm's Rules, Deputies' Affairs and Immunity Committee voted against the motions to waive the immunity of Marek Sowa.