The commission of inquiry into the visa scandal sent notices to the prosecutor's office regarding 11 people, its head, Marek Sowa, announced on social media. The notifications concern, among others, Mateusz Morawiecki, Zbigniew Rau and Mariusz Kamiński. Sowa published photos showing tall stacks of documents.
At the beginning of December the commission of inquiry into the PiS government's visa scandal adopted its final report from their works. She also decided to notify the prosecutor's office about the suspicion that 11 people had committed a crime.
On Friday, the head of the commission, Marek Sowa from KO, published an entry on social media. “Today we are sending notifications to the National Prosecutor's Office regarding 11 people. Among them: Zbigniew Rau, Mateusz Morawiecki, Mariusz Kamiński, Jadwiga Emilewicz, Andrzej Stróżny and Lech Kołakowski. The law must be equal for everyone,” he wrote.
He attached photos of tall piles of documents sent to the prosecutor's office. In one of them, the Owl signs documents, and in another photo, notices are packed in boxes.
The commission claims that a corruption-prone practice was established at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The commission's final report stated that Poland was used in the “visa shopping” procedure, which involved finding the easiest ways to reach countries Schengen zone.
“The lack of a migration strategy, issuing orders by high officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs limiting the role of consuls, support for specific companies and visa applicants, and the use of extra-legal 'fast paths' have become everyday practice,” it said.
It was also pointed out that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs carried out a corrupt practice of forcing the lists of people applying for visas, under the patronage of the then deputy minister Piotr Wawrzyk. “In the investigation conducted by the PK in Lublin, charges were brought against 9 people. Piotr Wawrzyk and his collaborator Edgar Kobos were charged. Edgar Kobos's letters included 607 people, of which 358 people obtained visas, despite failing to meet the conditions for obtaining a visa allowing entry into the territory of the Republic of Poland. “- noted.
What's in the notices?
The first notification concerns the former head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zbigniew Rau. According to the Rau commission, among others: abused the powers granted to him by deciding to adopt the concept of developing the Visa Decision Center and the Consular Information Center “by establishing their local departments despite the lack of substantive, organizational and economic justification for such a decision.”
In turn, the vice-president of PiS and former prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki and former Minister of Development Jadwiga Emilewicz – according to the committee – they abused their powers and failed to fulfill their obligations by allowing the Poland.Business Harbor program to be announced, immediately implemented and implemented – without any legal basis, not described in any document. The program assumed a simplified visa procedure for companies, startups and IT specialists. The commission issued a notice to the former Prime Minister's Plenipotentiary for GovTech, Justyna Orłowska, for implementing the program.
Another notification to the prosecutor's office concerns the former Director General of the Foreign Service, Maciej Karasiński, who – according to the commission – abused the powers granted to him by concluding a lease agreement for the needs of the Visa Decisions Center in Łódź and a lease agreement for the needs of the Consular Information Center in Kielce, in both cases on unfavorable terms. .
In turn, the notices against former directors of the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Marcin Jakubowski and Beata Brzywczy concern, among others, sending “veiled orders” to Polish consuls to issue visas for specified persons and exerting unauthorized pressure on the consuls.
The commission also sends notices to the prosecutor's office against the former boss Ministry of Interior and Administration Mariusz Kamiński and former boss CBA Andrzej Stróżny for their failure to fulfill their obligations after obtaining information in July 2022 about criminal conduct during the legalization of the stay of foreigners at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The committee also issued notices against former deputy minister of agriculture Lech Kołakowski and his colleague Maciej Lisowski. In the first case, it concerns, among others, for interfering in the process of issuing visas for foreigners and lobbying for the simplification of visa procedures for seasonal workers, and secondly – offering visa intermediation to foreigners and invoking influence in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
PiS MPs submitted a dissenting opinion to the report, consisting of over 30 pages. Head of the PiS club Mariusz Błaszczak he argued that the issue of visa irregularities was discovered during the PiS government and “it was a minor matter.”
Main photo source: X/@SowaMarek