Budapest court upholds decision to grant fugitive Polish MP asylum despite arrest warrant
em/kk
15.02.2025, 10:57
Marcin Romanowski is accused of committing 11 crimes. PAP/Paweł Supernak
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A Budapest court has upheld the decision to grant refugee status to a Polish opposition MP Marcin Romanowski who is wanted on criminal corruption charges under a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) and is hiding in Hungary.
Romanowski, a deputy justice minister in the former Polish government led by Law and Justice (PiS), is accused of committing 11 crimes, which include defrauding €25.7 million from the justice ministry's special-purpose reserve for crime victims and an attempt to defraud a further €13.9 million.
After he fled Poland, Romanowski secured political asylum in Hungary on December 19 last year, which caused tensions between the two countries. A day later, Poland informed Budapest about the EAW against him.
On January 10, Polish Justice Minister and Prosecutor General Adam Bodnar sent a letter to his Hungarian counterpart requesting information on the current status of Romanowski's transfer procedure to Poland under the EAW.
The Hungarian Ministry of Justice said then that the case concerning the possible sending of Romanowski back to his country would be handled by the capital court in Budapest. It added that until Romanowski was detained, the Metropolitan Court had no jurisdiction over the case.
On January 21, the Budapest Metropolitan Court told the Polish Press Agency (PAP) that the handover procedure “can only be initiated after he [Romanowski] has been found, detained and brought to court by the competent authorities.”
A Hungarian lawyer Tamas Lattmann told PAP at the time that the Hungarian Ministry of Justice which had received the arrest warrant from the Polish authorities, should have notified the police about the need to arrest Romanowski.
But on Friday, the Hungarian police told PAP that the decision to grant Romanowski refugee status had been upheld by the court.
“The asylum procedure for the person concerned in the complaint was carried out by the competent authorities, he was granted refugee status. This decision was upheld by the court,” the Hungarian police said.
In response to a question from PAP on the same day, the Budapest court said that it had no new information to provide in Romanowski's case.
Lattmann told PAP later on Friday that the police's position was probably based on the fact there were no legal proceedings against the applicant's asylum application.
“There was no decision [on the matter] because no one took the case to court. The court is waiting for someone to challenge the authorities' decision,” he said.
Lattmann added that the decision could only be challenged by the asylum seeker himself, the authorities involved in the process or the prosecutor's office, “generally, those involved in the asylum process in some way.”
