The Sejm received a request from the prosecutor's office to waive Mateusz Morawiecki's immunity in connection with the envelope election case. The prosecutor's office accuses Morawiecki of exceeding his powers and failing to fulfill his duties as prime minister, which “led to pointless, ineffective and unjustified spending of public funds.” The former prime minister declared that he would “willingly” waive his immunity because he did not want to hide behind it. He argued that he acted in accordance with the constitution and “the truth will defend itself.”
Request to waive the immunity of the former prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki received by the Sejm on Thursday, Katarzyna Karpa-Åšwiderek, spokeswoman for the Speaker of the House, said on Thursday. A notice on this matter also appeared on the website of the National Prosecutor's Office. The application is related to the organization of envelope elections, which did not take place.
About the fact that it's on the marshal's desk Szymon HoÅ‚ownia there was an application regarding the former prime minister and the current one PiS MPalso informed the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General Adam Bodnar on platform X. “The prosecutor's office works reliably, conscientiously and thoroughly,” assured Bodnar.
READ ALSO: Bodnar reacts to HoÅ‚ownia's words. “I feel an obligation to clarify a few issues”
It is possible to hold a deputy criminally liable after obtaining the consent of the Sejm.
Morawiecki: I will gladly waive my immunity
On Thursday evening, Morawiecki commented on the case on Republika TV. “I will gladly waive my immunity because I don't want to hide behind any immunity,” he said.
He said that in his opinion, the organization of envelope elections on May 10, 2020 was in accordance with the constitution. – I am convinced that the truth will defend itself. I was simply implementing the constitution then, he added. Morawiecki also emphasized that “if he had not done this, it is possible that now Mr. (Minister of Justice, Adam – ed.) Bodnar and Mr. (Prime Minister Donald – ed.) Tusk would also request the abolition of immunity.”
Earlier, Morawiecki briefly referred to the prosecutor's office's request in an entry on the X platform. The former prime minister commented on the case via the X portal. “False start, Mr. Bodnar, the election campaign can only be conducted AFTER the registration of the committee,” he wrote.
The prosecutor's office about Morawiecki's decisions
According to the prosecutor's office, the assessment of the evidence “provides a basis for a justified suspicion that MP Mateusz Morawiecki has committed a crime of exceeding his powers as a public official, i.e. the Prime Minister of the Council of Ministers, and failing to fulfill his obligations in this respect, thereby acting to the detriment of the public interest in the form of respect for the legal order.” and constitutional rights of voters and led to pointless, ineffective and unjustified expenditure of public funds in a total amount of not less than PLN 56,450,406.16 to the detriment of the State Treasury, i.e. an act pursuant to Article 231 § 1 of the Penal Code in connection with Article 12 of the Penal Code.
According to the prosecutor's office, Morawiecki did this despite his lack of competence under the law and despite obtaining negative legal opinions. For this purpose, he used the Act of March 2, 2020 on special solutions related to the prevention, counteracting and combating COVID-19other diseases and crisis situations caused by them, which, in the opinion of the CP, did not provide grounds for taking action.
At Thursday's briefing, the spokeswoman for the Prosecutor General, prosecutor Anna Adamiak, emphasized that the act entered into force on May 9, 2020, while on April 16, 2020, Morawiecki issued two decisions: to Poczta Polska – recommending actions aimed at organizing the presidential elections in the form of correspondence, and to the State Wytwórnia Securities – recommending the commencement of printing voting cards and other documents necessary in the electoral process.
In the opinion of the prosecutor's office, these decisions were contrary to the applicable provisions regulating the electoral process in Poland, including primarily the Electoral Code, and violated the competences of the state bodies appointed for this purpose – the National Electoral Commission and the National Electoral Office.
Prosecutor's office: there is a reasonable suspicion that the former prime minister may have committed a crime
Adamiak explained at the conference that the subject of the investigation is to assess whether public officials involved in the process of organizing the presidential elections in Poland in 2020 exceeded their powers or failed to fulfill their duties.
She stated that “extensive evidence” had been collected in the case. She added that “a large part of this evidence consists of documents sent by the Sejm commission, the so-called Commission to investigate the envelope scandal.” She explained that the scope of the proceedings is very broad and “includes not only the fact that members of the government exceeded their powers, but also issues of violating the confidentiality of personal data, possible creation of danger, threat to life or health of Polish citizens in connection with the organization of elections.” She said that the request to waive Morawiecki's immunity concerns one of the threads.
She said that a team of four prosecutors has been established to deal with this case. – In the light of their assessment, especially the assessment of this evidence, MP Mateusz Morawiecki could, there is a probability, or rather a justified suspicion, that he could have committed an official crime involving the abuse of powers – said Adamiak.
– Because as the President of the Council of Ministers, and therefore having the attribute of a public official and being obliged to act within the limits and on the basis of the law, he violated this law. This action caused damage to the public interest, i.e. so-called non-material damage, but related to compliance with the legal order and, above all, to the constitutional rules of elections. However, prosecutors also found that the then Prime Minister had failed to fulfill his duties, she added.
She explained that the point was that the former prime minister did not revoke his decision to organize the elections when he knew they would not take place. – His decision did not stop these costs from being generated – she said.
Proc. In response to journalists' questions, Adamiak said that Morawiecki faces a penalty of up to three years in prison. She added that the National Prosecutor's Office does not rule out further requests to waive immunity.
Proc. Adamiak in the Mateusz Morawicki case: extensive evidenceTVN24
Envelope elections
The presidential elections, in accordance with the order of the Speaker of the Sejm of February 2020, were to be held on May 10, 2020 in the form of postal voting due to the COVID-19 epidemic. However, on May 7th National Electoral Commission informed that because the applicable legal regulation deprived the National Electoral Commission of the instruments necessary to perform its duties, the vote on May 10, 2020 cannot take place.
Ultimately, the elections took place on June 28 (1st round), and voting took place at polling stations.
READ ALSO: Ionic shows the “key script”. Poczta Polska spent PLN 88, not PLN 70, on envelope elections
Witczak: I hope Morawiecki will not run away anywhere
The case was commented on for TVN24 by Adrian Witczak, MP of the Civic Coalition, in the Sejm. – The prosecutor's office collected evidence. On this basis, a motion was submitted to the Speaker of the Sejm, who will refer the motion to the Rules Committee. A parliamentary majority is needed to lift Mr. Morawiecki's immunity – he explained.
He expressed hope that “Mr. Morawiecki will not follow in your footsteps (Marcin) Romanowski and he will not run away anywhere, he will only stand before the prosecutor's office and explain clearly.” He said that the collected material was “disturbing”. – Because everything indicates that the envelope elections were to be held illegally and the money that was spent from the state budget was spent unjustifiably – he added.
The prosecutor's office request to waive Morawiecki's immunity. Witczak: I hope he will not follow in Romanowski's footstepsTVN24
READ ALSO: PiS senator on the Romanowski case: I guess it's unprecedented, but what can we do about it?
Kwiatkowski: it was obvious
KO senator Krzysztof Kwiatkowski, commenting on the prosecutor's opinion, said: – As the classic says, it was obvious.
– When in 2020, Mateusz Morawiecki, as Prime Minister, ordered Poczta Polska to organize illegal elections, because the National Electoral Commission is responsible for organizing elections in Poland, not Poczta Polska or a beauty salon on any street, what happened was to be expected – he spoke. – The Provincial Administrative Court found that Mateusz Morawiecki had broken the law in June last year Supreme Administrative Court dismissed the cassation appeal in this case. From that moment on, the case was formally ended and we could only wait for what had to happen, i.e. a request to waive Mateusz Morawiecki's immunity so that he would be held responsible for breaking the law – he added.
Kwiatkowski: it was obviousTVN24
Petru: there is a chance that Morawiecki will be held accountable this year
– We do not forget about these matters. Maybe some people expected it to be faster – said Ryszard Petru, MP from Poland 2050. – There is a chance that Mateusz Morawiecki will be brought to justice this year, but it will be the court's decision and the court must be given the opportunity to make this decision. Therefore, I cannot imagine that this immunity would not be waived in such an important case, he said.
Petru: there is a chance that Morawiecki will be held accountable this yearTVN24
Motyka: we will support this motion
Deputy Minister of Climate, press spokesman PSL MiÅ‚osz Motyka announced that PSL would vote to lift Morawiecki's immunity. – If someone exceeds his/her authority, any official at any level is held accountable. And here we have a situation in which Prime Minister Morawiecki issues a decision and resolution without a legal basis, exceeds his powers, interferes with competences that are not his, so we absolutely need a request to waive his immunity and bring specific charges in this matter – he said.
He argued that “there is no way for public authorities to act without the basis of legal provisions and go beyond these frameworks, so we will absolutely support this motion.”
Main photo source: Michał Meissner/PAP