Attorney Bartosz Lewandowski, counsel for Zbigniew Ziobro, sharply criticized the decision of the National Public Prosecutor’s Office to issue an arrest warrant for the former minister of justice. “The arrest warrant issued by the National Public Prosecutor’s Office against Zbigniew Ziobro is a joke and a clear confirmation of the Prosecutor’s Office’s political involvement,” he wrote.
Today, the Prosecutor’s Office ordered a manhunt for former Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro by issuing an arrest warrant. In a statement, it explained that the warrant was issued in order to carry out procedural actions involving Ziobro, because—according to the statement—these actions could not be completed to date due to the failure to establish the suspect’s place of residence. This is a rather absurd line of argument, given that it is known Ziobro is staying in Budapest, where he has been granted political asylum.
Zbigniew Ziobro’s defense attorney has already responded to this latest move by the Prosecutor’s Office.
“An arrest warrant (Article 279 of the Code of Criminal Procedure) is issued when a suspect is hiding in Poland, their place of residence is unknown, and it is intended to disseminate the wanted person’s image in order to locate them. It is not an obligation, but a prerogative of the prosecutor,” explained attorney Bartosz Lewandowski.
Minister Ziobro is a politician and a public figure whose image is widely known. Not only the National Public Prosecutor’s Office, public opinion in Poland, and the government, but also the European Commission are informed that Ziobro is outside Poland, on Hungarian territory, where he has been granted international protection. The Prosecutor’s Office even has his address, he emphasized.
“Issuing an arrest warrant, circulating the image of a person presumed innocent, and triumphantly exploiting this fact by politicians of the current government confirm the validity of the thesis that Ziobro has no chance of a fair trial in Poland, and that granting him international protection was fully justified,” the defense attorney argued.
“This is yet another instance of using legal institutions for disproportionate actions that do not serve to ensure the proper course of proceedings, but rather to repress and stigmatize a person who enjoys the presumption of innocence,” Bartosz Lewandowski concluded.