The re-drawing of the judge in Zbigniew Ziobro's case was due to the fact that the application had previously been mistakenly drawn from among judges adjudicating in the complaint and motion section who do not adjudicate in cases of this category – said Ewa Leszczyńska-Furtak, spokeswoman for the Court of Appeal in Warsaw. She added that the case Ziobro was talking about did not concern bringing him before the investigative committee, but imposing a fine on him for failing to appear before the committee.
PiS MPformer head of the Ministry of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro During Saturday's press conference, he alleged that there was manipulation in the Court of Appeal in Warsaw in appointing judges. As he said, this concerns the appointment of a judge who will decide on the request to bring him to a meeting of the parliamentary investigative committee for Pegasus.
The court spokeswoman responds to Ziobro's allegations
The spokeswoman for criminal matters of the Court of Appeal in Warsaw, Ewa Leszczyńska-Furtak, commented on Ziobro's allegations in a statement posted on the court's website. – In view of the speculation regarding the allocation of cases, first of all, I would like to point out that it does not concern a complaint against bringing a witness, but a complaint against the decision of the District Court in Warsaw of November 13 this year imposing a fine of PLN 3,000 on the witness for failure to appear before the Sejm investigative committee – she stated. .
– Secondly, the case was originally selected for the report of Judge Agnieszka Brygidyr-Dorosz, adjudicating in the complaint and motion section of the 2nd Criminal Division, whose judges do not have cases of this category in the divisions of activities established by the College of the Court of Appeal. Therefore, the drawing was repeated in accordance with the divisions of judges' duties in force since August 2024. They are published on the website of the Court of Appeal in Warsaw and everyone can read them, she noted.
The SA's announcement emphasized that the system assigned the case to the department of judge Anna Zdziarska in the correct draw – consistent with the division of judges' activities.
Spokeswoman of the Court of Appeal: the case was mistakenly transferred to the complaint section
Leszczyńska-Furtak explained that the complaints and motions section mainly deals with complaints about certain categories of cases, including appeals in all executive cases and all appeals that were drawn to the reports of judges adjudicating in the section before its creation, i.e. before the merger of two Criminal Divisions into one. All other cases are drawn from among the remaining judges of the 2nd Criminal Division. As she explained, in some cases remaining in the reports of judges adjudicating in the section, some judges collectively submit applications for their exclusion from adjudicating. – Such applications are also submitted by the parties to the proceedings, raising the defects of the appointments of judges with the participation of the National Council of the Judiciary after 2017 – she added.
– This case was mistakenly selected from the pool of judges from the complaints and motions section, which is the best proof that no one looked at this case in any special way, because if this were the case, the error would undoubtedly not have been allowed. All cases are treated the same and considered equally important, regardless of who and what they concern, and the former Minister of Justice cannot expect any special treatment. And due to the workload, mistakes sometimes happen, which employees and judges try to correct immediately, the spokeswoman emphasized.
– This case, as one of the hundreds that come to our court every day, was mistakenly – given the amount of work that the secretariat and judges have – sent to a draw from this pool of the complaint and motion section and therefore went to a judge who, in his division of activities, did not There are no cases in this category and that is why the drawing was repeated – added Leszczyńska-Furtak.
Ziobro's accusations
During the press conference, Ziobro presented two documents regarding the selection of judges. One of them – as he said – is related to the draw on December 13, when judge Agnieszka Brygidyr-Dorosz was selected to hear the case at the request of the investigative commission. – The judge was drawn from a pool of judges who were subjected to an algorithm and a randomizing machine, and it happened that this judge would hear the case – said the politician.
According to Ziobro, this judge “could issue a ruling that is beyond the control of those currently in power”, so the drawing was invalidated and the case went to judge Anna Zdziarska in the next drawing. – Personally, I have no comments, I don't know Judge Anna Zdziarska. I have no reservations about her as a person, I don't have any negative opinion. However, I draw attention to the pathological, illegal, (…), criminal mechanism of adjusting the court's decision to suit the personal composition of those currently in power, said Ziobro.
Ziobro failed to appear at the Pegasus committee several times
Ziobro failed to appear several times at the meetings of the investigative committee regarding Pegasus. Therefore, the commission asked the court to bring him in for questioning. For this purpose, the Sejm waived his immunity, and his detention and forced deportation were scheduled for January 31.
PiS politicians, including Ziobro, refer to the judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal of September 10, in which it ruled that the scope of activities of the investigative commission for Pegasus is unconstitutional.
The Pegasus Commission of Inquiry is examining the legality, regularity and purposefulness of activities undertaken using this software by, among others, the government, secret services and the police from November 2015 to November 2023. The commission is also to determine who was responsible for the purchase of Pegasus and similar tools for the Polish authorities.
Pegasus is a system that was created by the Israeli company NSO Group to fight terrorism and organized crime. Using Pegasus, you can not only eavesdrop on conversations from an infected smartphone, but also gain access to other data stored in it, e.g. e-mails, photos or video recordings, as well as cameras and microphones.
Main photo source: PAP/Radek Pietruszka