When there is no immunity, the logical consequence will be a request for pre-trial detention – said Senator Krzysztof Kwiatkowski (KO) on TVN24 on Tuesday, commenting on the case of MP Marcin Romanowski. As he added, “this man has proven that he will cheat.” Deputy Speaker of the Senate Michał Kamiński (PSL, Trzecia Droga) added that he was “surprised by the fact that Mr. Romanowski gave up the right to defend himself.”
The Rules Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe voted in favor of waiving the immunity of Marcin Romanowski, a member of parliament from the club PIS.
Read also: Commission to lift Romanowski's immunity >>>
Kwiatkowski: the logical consequence will be a request for temporary arrest
– I assume that the prosecutor's office will renew the request to the court (for arrest) based on the evidence collected. The circumstance that resulted in the first application not being considered in a positive sense for the prosecutor's office was the court's doubt as to whether Mr. Romanowski was covered by immunity – said Kwiatkowski.
He added that “when there is no immunity, the logical consequence, and I say this as a former prosecutor general, (…) will be a request for pre-trial detention.”
– I assume that such an application will be submitted and, of course, what will happen next in this case will depend on the court's decision, but if I was responsible for the work of the prosecutor's office, I believe that such an application should be submitted. The scale of irregularities in the Justice Fund amounts to hundreds of millions of zlotys (…). I have no doubt that, due to the scale of abuse, such a measure should be used and such an application should be submitted – emphasized the KO senator.
He also said: – Why is Mr. Romanowski now saying that he will report to the prosecutor's office? Because he knows what I just said, that in a moment there will be a request to the prosecutor's office to apply pre-trial detention. Because it has to be. This man has proven that he will cheat.
– His famous conversations after the elections, instructions at the meetings he attended. What to do when the prosecutor's office arrives at 6 a.m. How to clean computer drives. How to say that if they grab your hand, it's not your hand – said Kwiatkowski.
According to the KO senator, “all the conditions for applying a measure such as temporary arrest are met here.” And he pointed out that these are “a very high penalty because the damage is extremely large and, of course, there is a fear of being cheated.”
– We saw that this was not a concern. Mr. Romanowski did everything he could to interfere in this matter – said Kwiatkowski.
“Like translated from the Kremlin dictionary”
Michał Kamiński stated that he was “surprised by the fact that Mr. Romanowski gave up his right and did not question it in order to defend himself.” Romanowski was not at the meeting of the PACE regulations committee.
– For me, it rather resembles the London case (Michał K., former president of the Government Agency of Strategic Reserves – ed.). Law and Justice criminals are confronted not only with the Polish justice system, but this brutal evidence – how we were robbed for 8 years – is presented before courts or authorities in other countries, they (these authorities) have no doubts – said the Deputy Speaker of the Senate.
He added that “that is why today the former prime minister's closest friend and collaborator is sitting in British custody and his British detention is being extended”, and “today a politician of Law and Justice or Solidarity Poland is afraid to appear before a body such as the Council of Europe, because he is afraid and ashamed simply to show the scale of irregularities to the whole of Europe.
– As if translated from the Kremlin's dictionary, the most important PiS politicians are insulting the Council of Europe. And I listen to them with surprise, because it's exactly like that, word for word. Spitting about the Council of Europe is like spitting about the Council of Europe by United politicians Russia – said Kamiński.
According to him, “today these alleged Polish patriots claim that the Council of Europe is the site of a conspiracy against Poland” and “again they are counting on the stupidity of the citizens of the Republic of Poland who will not realize that they are repeating Russian propaganda.”
Charges against Marcin Romanowski
On July 16, the District Court for Warsaw-Mokotów did not agree to the arrest of Romanowski – a Sovereign Poland politician, MP of the PiS club and former deputy head of the Ministry of Justice, due to the immunity of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe protecting him. The National Prosecutor's Office then filed a complaint against this decision, but on September 27 The District Court in Warsaw upheld the decision of the first instance court in this case.
The National Prosecutor's Office therefore submitted a request to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to waive the immunity of MP Romanowski.
Marcin Romanowski – politician of Sovereign Poland, MP of the PiS club, who in 2019-2023 was the deputy head of the Ministry of Justice supervising the Justice Fund – the suspect is, among others, about setting up competitions for money from this fund. The charges against him include the amount of over PLN 112,126,000. zloty.
Main photo source: TVN24