After more than two years of “work” and spending approximately PLN 4.5 million, the illegal Pegasus committee is concluding its hearing phase and preparing a final report. As stated by Witold Zembaczyński (Civic Platform (KO)), it is expected to be published later this month. Some of the findings are to remain “classified.” “All those individuals who avoided appearing, hiding behind parliamentary immunity, effectively placed themselves above the law and, in fact, proved they have something to hide in the Pegasus scandal, since they refuse to appear and testify,” said the Civic Platform (KO) politician and member of the illegal committee.
In mid-January this year, two years passed since the establishment of the illegal Pegasus investigative committee. At the time, citing information from RMF 24 radio obtained from the Chancellery of the Sejm, it was reported that the body’s operations had cost approximately PLN 4.5 million.
According to those reports, the vast majority of the illegal Pegasus committee’s expenses – over PLN 3.1 million – were allocated to various types of “expert contracts.” These included costs of academic advisory services, salaries for permanent advisors and consultants, as well as the preparation of legal opinions, analyses, and expert reports for the committee’s work.
A further approximately PLN 1.4 million was spent on the so-called day-to-day operations of the committee. This amount covered salaries for assistants to MPs sitting on the committee, as well as technical costs such as preparing minutes of meetings and transcripts of witness hearings. This means that the committee’s activities cost taxpayers an average of around PLN 200,000 per month.
End of Work. What Will Be Included in the “Report”?
After more than two years, the committee led by Magdalena Sroka has concluded the hearing phase. As Witold Zembaczyński (Civic Platform (KO)) told the Polish Press Agency, the body is now focusing on analyzing evidence collected from various institutions. He noted that the publication of the report should take place later this month.
“We are currently preparing the report. We are determining how to present public, classified, and top-secret information, and what to do with the entire strictly classified component,” he said.
He added that the committee has “practically completed hearings” and that the remaining issue is deciding in what form to present the collected findings.
Originally, the report was to be ready in the first quarter of 2026, but the deadline was postponed due to the large volume of collected materials and their partially top-secret nature. Zembaczyński added that the document will be divided into a public section, available to everyone, and a classified section intended for a limited group of recipients, including members of parliament.
“MPs have official access to classified materials, so a closed session of the Sejm can be convened to present them. However, we have a large number of testimonies, documents, and top-secret evidence that cannot be made available to the entire Sejm,” Zembaczyński stated.
He added that the most sensitive part of the materials would require additional processing, though he did not specify who would ultimately gain access to the highest-level classified information.
“They Hid Behind Immunity”
Zembaczyński also highlighted the “results” of the committee’s work, stating that dozens of witnesses had been questioned and several notifications had been submitted to the prosecutor’s office during its operation. Among those who “failed to appear before the committee despite being summoned,” he mentioned, among others, the President of the Constitutional Tribunal, Bogdan Święczkowski.
The Sroka committee also attempted – unsuccessfully – to question Mariusz Kamiński, former Minister of the Interior and Administration and coordinator of special services during the United Right government, as well as Maciej Wąsik, his deputy in the ministry.
“These are the individuals who, by hiding behind immunity, prevented the Polish state from holding them accountable for their involvement in the Pegasus scandal. There are also those who hid behind medical leave – permanently ill and permanently unavailable intelligence officers. Zbigniew Ziobro tried, but failed to avoid questioning and incriminated himself by admitting guilt. Meanwhile, all those who avoided appearing by invoking immunity effectively placed themselves above the law and proved they have something to hide, since they refuse to appear and testify,” Zembaczyński said.
Constitutional Tribunal Declared the Sroka Committee Illegal
The illegal Pegasus investigative committee was established on January 17, 2024. Its task is to examine whether the use of Pegasus surveillance software by the government, special services, and the police during the rule of Law and Justice (PiS) was lawful. The committee is also meant to determine who was responsible for purchasing Pegasus and similar tools for Polish state institutions.
On September 10, 2024, the Constitutional Tribunal ruled that the scope of the Pegasus committee’s activities was unconstitutional. In the justification, Judge Stanisław Piotrowicz indicated that the resolution establishing the committee was affected by a significant legal flaw. According to the Tribunal, the Sejm made its decision in an “improper composition,” as Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik – who had been convicted by a final court judgment – were prevented from exercising their parliamentary mandates.