“What’s wrong with the Sejm lifting a deputy’s immunity? After all, it’s only the beginning of something, not the end […]” said Deputy Speaker of the Sejm Piotr Zgorzelski on social media. Next week, MPs are to discuss the immunity of opposition politician and former Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro. And although the representative of the Polish People’s Party (PSL) believes that stripping the Law and Justice (PiS) politician of his protection is nothing wrong, he has acted quite differently in the case of his coalition colleagues. And that’s not all.
On Tuesday, the Minister of Justice and Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek submitted a request to Speaker of the Sejm Szymon Hołownia seeking consent to prosecute Law and Justice (PiS) MP Zbigniew Ziobro, as well as to detain and arrest him.
The politician is accused of having, during his tenure as head of the Ministry of Justice, founded and led an organized criminal group that embezzled over 150 million PLN from the Justice Fund.
Most representatives of the ruling parties make no secret of how they will vote on the motion. Some even suggest that it is the obvious and proper course of action. Among them is Deputy Speaker of the Sejm from the Polish People’s Party (PSL), Piotr Zgorzelski.
“What’s wrong with the Sejm lifting a deputy’s immunity? After all, this is only the beginning of something, not the end, since the deputy will have the opportunity to prove his innocence before the court,” said Zgorzelski on social media.
“Smells like hypocrisy”
Zgorzelski’s post was commented on, among others, by Law and Justice (PiS) MEP Jacek Ozdoba. “What has changed in the meantime?” he asked, referring to the vote on the motion to lift the immunity of Civic Platform (KO) MP Sławomir Nitras. In 2022, prosecutors accused Nitras of, among other things, violating the bodily integrity of MPs Iwona Arent and Sebastian Kaleta. At that time, the entire Polish People’s Party (PSL) voted against the motion.
“The deputy did not have the opportunity to ‘prove his innocence before the court.’ Smells like hypocrisy,” stated Ozdoba.
“Trials like in the 1950s”
Law and Justice (PiS) MP Paweł Jabłoński also commented on Zgorzelski’s statement. He pointed out a key issue: “Before a court, one does not prove innocence – it is guilt that must be proven.” He added, “The coalition dreams of trials like in the 1950s.”
He also noted that “if lifting immunity is supposedly nothing serious,” then why did the ruling coalition refuse to apply the same measure to former Speaker of the Senate Tomasz Grodzki.
“In his case – based on the same testimonies and the same witnesses – dozens of people face charges. Everyone took part in the corruption scheme, but only Grodzki supposedly knew nothing?” he remarked.
The meeting of the Rules Committee, during which MPs will consider the motion to lift Zbigniew Ziobro’s immunity, has been scheduled for November 6.