The Penal Code says that whoever hides a document that he or she does not have the right to exclusively dispose of is criminally liable – said prosecutor Ewa Wrzosek in “Tak jest”, referring to the documents found during a search in Zbigniew Ziobro's house. In these circumstances, she said, “there is reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed.” – We cannot say today that because he is a person from the front pages of newspapers, we will forget about him – said law professor Maciej Kisilowski. Summing up, Ziobro's “achievements” as a minister and prosecutor indicated that “we are really talking about heavy responsibility” for how the politician tried to shape the state.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, searches were carried out in various places in the country at the request of the National Prosecutor's Office investigating the spending of funds from the Justice Fund. Among others, the house of Zbigniew Ziobro, former Minister of Justice and Prosecutor General, was searched.
PK spokesman, prosecutor Przemysław Nowak, said on Wednesday that “we revealed it in Zbigniew Ziobro's house the original supervision file of the preparatory proceedings files.” – We will analyze how it got there and whether it should be found there – he said. He explained that it was about the case of the death of Zbigniew Ziobro's father. He specified that it was the archived original supervision file – We also found other documents. We will analyze them – he added.
Wrzosek: such a file cannot be in a private house
These events were commented on in “Tak jest” by prosecutor Ewa Wrzosek from the Association of Prosecutors “Lex Super Omnia” and law professor Maciej Kisilowski from the Central European University in Vienna.
When asked about the importance of disclosing such documents in a private home, Wrzosek replied that “there is a reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed.” – A file, even a case supervision file, cannot be kept in a private home. Even your prosecutor general. Because the provision of Article 276 of the Penal Code states that whoever hides a document which he does not have the right to exclusively dispose of is criminally liable for this, she pointed out.
She emphasized that “this is a crime punishable by imprisonment for up to two years.”
Whoever destroys, damages, renders useless, conceals or removes a document which he or she does not have the right to exclusively dispose of, shall be subject to a fine, restriction of liberty or imprisonment for up to 2 years.
– I will also draw attention to the second aspect of the same matter. In 2016, the Prosecutor General and Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro, during the Sejm session, publicly assured all of us that he had excluded himself from the investigation into the cause of his father's death. He publicly assured us of this, she said.
– However, today's evidence, which was found during a search of his living quarters, proves that he lied to the Sejm, lied to the MPs, lied to the public, and additionally, it is possible that he will suffer purely clerical legal consequences as a result – added Wrzosek.
Wrzosek: such a file cannot be in a private houseTVN24
Kisilowski: We are talking about suspected crimes of the gravest importance
The professor of the Central European University commented more broadly on the Justice Fund scandal and similar ones, as well as the current activities of the services related to it.
– We are not talking about any political games here, we are just talking about suspected crimes of the gravest importance – Kisilowski pointed out.
According to him, “de facto, looking comparatively at the history of failing democracies, is the history of an attempted authoritarian coup, let's not be afraid to say it.” – We are talking about a politician – today a truly seriously ill man, but a politician – who not only made decisions that were key to this attempted authoritarian coup – he continued.
Zbigniew ZiobroRafał Guz/PAP
– Let us remember that he was also a politician who every time, at every turn, when any other politician of this camp was shaken in his hand, or perhaps his conscience was moved – we are talking about President (Andrzej – ed.) Duda, his vetoes, including case of, for example, the TVN lex or court laws, we are talking about Prime Minister (Mateusz – ed.) Morawiecki, his negotiations with the European Union, of course about Jarosław Gowin – in all these moments Zbigniew Ziobro ruthlessly and aggressively attacked the politicians of his own camp, saying: you have to go more ruthlessly, you have to move on – said the TVN24 guest.
In his opinion, “Poland today, if Zbigniew Ziobro had achieved what he wanted and what he publicly postulated, Poland today could look like Erdogan's Turkey, or maybe closer to Putin's Russia.” – We must realize that it was Zbigniew Ziobro who said that there should be no highest castes. And we cannot say today that because he is a person on the front pages of newspapers, we will forget about it, he said.
– We are really talking about heavy responsibility, about actions which – as you can see from the prosecutor – had victims, who had specific faces, these are not actions without victims. And there must be this responsibility – added the law professor.
Kisilowski: We are talking about suspected crimes of the gravest importance TVN24
The case of the death of Zbigniew Ziobro's father
The case of the death of Ziobro's father and the activities of the prosecutor's office related to this case were presented in April 2023 in her reportage by Marta Gordziewicz from “Black and white”.
The case was discontinued twice by the prosecutor's office, independent of Ziobro. When PiS took power, both the prosecutor's office, already supervised by Ziobro, and the Ministry of Justice, headed by him, became involved.
Main photo source: Rafał Guz/PAP