“The court has decided to order the temporary arrest of Minister Zbigniew Ziobro,” attorney Adam Gomoła reported on X. The defense has announced it will appeal the decision to the Regional Court in Warsaw.
Attorney Gomoła shared the information about the ruling before even leaving the courtroom.
The motion for Ziobro’s arrest, filed against the former head of the Ministry of Justice, was examined by Judge Agnieszka Prokopowicz. She first adjourned the hearing on December 22 last year due to the prosecution’s failure to attach classified materials to the arrest motion. She adjourned it again on January 15 this year after a motion was filed seeking her recusal, citing, among other things, issues related to her membership in the judges’ association “Iustitia.” On January 16, the court dismissed that motion.
It is now expected that an arrest warrant will be issued for the former minister. On that basis, further efforts to locate him within the country will be initiated. Once it is established that Ziobro is not present in Poland, the next step will be to initiate a search under a European Arrest Warrant.
Even before the ruling, Ziobro himself spoke on the air of TV Republika. “It is clear that the judge is under enormous pressure to issue a decision today. I have no illusions about what that decision will be. We are dealing with a politically orchestrated process,” he said.
Ziobro is currently under international protection granted by the Hungarian authorities, who recognized that he faces a risk of political persecution. That decision was made in December last year. His lawyer also announced that Ziobro is to receive a travel document provided for under the Geneva Convention, which is intended to enable the former minister to travel.
Ziobro had previously stated, among other things, that he would remain abroad until genuine guarantees of the rule of law are restored in Poland. At the same time, he announced that he would not resign his parliamentary mandate and would continue public, including media, activity directed against the current government. He also emphasized that his actions related to the Justice Fund were lawful.