A former deputy Polish justice minister could lose his parliamentary immunity as an investigation continues into the alleged misuse of millions of zloty earmarked for a fund to support victims of crime.
Poland’s parliament was scheduled on Thursday to strip Marcin Romanowski, who served in the Law and Justice (PiS) government that was in office until the end of last year, of his parliamentary immunity over charges of possible abuse of the Justice Fund.
The current Polish government came into office in December pledging to hold to account, and if necessary bring to justice, those responsible for the numerous financial wrongdoings it alleges took place during the Law and Justice years in office.
Romanowski denies that he misused money from the Justice Fund, which was set up to help victims of crime, for political gain. He faces 11 charges brought by prosecutors, including involvement in organized crime and rigging public tenders. A total of 10 people have so far been charged as part of a wide-reaching investigation into a national scandal over the Justice Fund, three of whom have been placed in pre-trial detention.
Romanowski is just one of the Justice Ministry officials accused of complicity in the fund’s misuse and in June the current justice minister, Adam Bodnar, who is also prosecutor general, requested parliament to hold him accountable. “Prosecutor General Adam Bodnar submitted… a request for the consent of the Polish parliament to hold MP Marcin Romanowski criminally liable, as well as his detention and temporary arrest,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement at the time. The parliament’s Rules and Deputies' Affairs Committee has also supported the former deputy minister being stripped of his immunity, as well as his temporary detention. A vote on the matter is expected on Friday morning.
Another deputy justice minister in the previous government, Michał Woś, has already had his parliamentary immunity removed on a motion from the prosecutor’s office. Like Romanowski, he is a member of Sovereign Poland, a euroskeptic junior member of the former ruling coalition, led by PiS. Woś has hit back at what he sees as political vengeance, telling a press conference on Tuesday: “We appeal to all people of good will to get involved in the defense of these persecuted people, who are being brutalized on the orders of [Prime Minister Donald] Tusk and Bodnar.”
(PiS) The Justice Fund scandal forms a central pillar of a government drive to call its predecessors to account. Donald Tusk’s coalition government accuses the PiS-led United Right of squandering vast sums of public money, much of it from the Justice Fund. Tusk has said the amount misappropriated from the fund alone may be as much as 112 million złoty (€26 million), with the prosecution service estimating the extent of the abuse at up to 400 million złoty (€93 million). The government has claimed that the misappropriated cash was used as a political slush fund to reward allies by channeling it to various NGOs with links to Law and Justice, and to feather the nests of party members. Prosecutors have also alleged that among the fund’s misuse was the clandestine purchase of Israeli-made Pegasus phone-hacking software, which has been the subject of a parliamentary inquiry. The current government claims its predecessors used the system to spy on political opponents and others it saw as a threat. One of the Tusk administration’s key election promises was to wreak justice on wrongdoers during PiS’s eight years in power.
Opposition cries foul
The Law and Justice party, currently the biggest opposition party in parliament, has stood by its record and branded the accusations against it a political witch-hunt.
“The request to withdraw my parliamentary immunity and arrest me in connection with the Justice Fund is a political plot,” Romanowski said in a post on social media platform X last month, adding that he had “always acted in accordance with the law.”
But the government has stood by its policy and insisted that many crimes were committed under PiS.
“These cases are very numerous, and they require extraordinary determination on the part of prosecutors, but also great attention to detail, ” Bodnar said over the weekend. “Accounting for the abuses of the previous government cannot be a propaganda mechanism, it must be proper legal work.”
Romanowski is just one of the Justice Ministry officials accused of complicity in the fund’s misuse and in June the current justice minister, Adam Bodnar, who is also prosecutor general, requested parliament to hold him accountable. “Prosecutor General Adam Bodnar submitted… a request for the consent of the Polish parliament to hold MP Marcin Romanowski criminally liable, as well as his detention and temporary arrest,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement at the time. The parliament’s Rules and Deputies' Affairs Committee has also supported the former deputy minister being stripped of his immunity, as well as his temporary detention. A vote on the matter is expected on Friday morning.
Another deputy justice minister in the previous government, Michał Woś, has already had his parliamentary immunity removed on a motion from the prosecutor’s office. Like Romanowski, he is a member of Sovereign Poland, a euroskeptic junior member of the former ruling coalition, led by PiS. Woś has hit back at what he sees as political vengeance, telling a press conference on Tuesday: “We appeal to all people of good will to get involved in the defense of these persecuted people, who are being brutalized on the orders of [Prime Minister Donald] Tusk and Bodnar.”
(PiS) The Justice Fund scandal forms a central pillar of a government drive to call its predecessors to account. Donald Tusk’s coalition government accuses the PiS-led United Right of squandering vast sums of public money, much of it from the Justice Fund. Tusk has said the amount misappropriated from the fund alone may be as much as 112 million złoty (€26 million), with the prosecution service estimating the extent of the abuse at up to 400 million złoty (€93 million). The government has claimed that the misappropriated cash was used as a political slush fund to reward allies by channeling it to various NGOs with links to Law and Justice, and to feather the nests of party members. Prosecutors have also alleged that among the fund’s misuse was the clandestine purchase of Israeli-made Pegasus phone-hacking software, which has been the subject of a parliamentary inquiry. The current government claims its predecessors used the system to spy on political opponents and others it saw as a threat. One of the Tusk administration’s key election promises was to wreak justice on wrongdoers during PiS’s eight years in power.
Opposition cries foul
The Law and Justice party, currently the biggest opposition party in parliament, has stood by its record and branded the accusations against it a political witch-hunt.
“The request to withdraw my parliamentary immunity and arrest me in connection with the Justice Fund is a political plot,” Romanowski said in a post on social media platform X last month, adding that he had “always acted in accordance with the law.”
But the government has stood by its policy and insisted that many crimes were committed under PiS.
“These cases are very numerous, and they require extraordinary determination on the part of prosecutors, but also great attention to detail, ” Bodnar said over the weekend. “Accounting for the abuses of the previous government cannot be a propaganda mechanism, it must be proper legal work.”
Source: PAP, Politico, TVN24
More In Politics MORE...
