Maciej Świrski has been released by prosecutors, TV Republika journalist Adrian Stankowski confirmed, citing information from Świrski’s wife, Halina Świrska. Officers from Poland’s Central Anti-Corruption Bureau detained Świrski yesterday morning on the orders of a prosecutor from the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Rzeszów.
On Tuesday morning, Jacek Dobrzyński, spokesman for the minister coordinating Poland’s special services, announced the detention of “two former members of the Polish National Foundation.”
“The investigation concerns the abuse of authority and failure to fulfil official duties in 2017 by members of the management board of the Polish National Foundation in connection with the financing of the ‘Fair Courts’ media campaign, which caused the foundation large-scale financial losses amounting to no less than PLN 8.4 million,”
he said.
Speaking to TV Republika yesterday, Halina Świrska, Maciej Świrski’s wife, said that the former Polish National Foundation board member had been detained at an apartment in the Suwałki region.
“At around 6 a.m. today, there was a knock at the door. When I approached it and asked, ‘Who is it?’, I heard, ‘CBA.’ I thought it was some kind of joke. I woke my husband, and he let the officers into the apartment. They told us that they had come to detain him. The order they read out stated that the case concerned an investigation into mismanagement to the detriment of the Polish National Foundation in connection with the ‘Fair Courts’ campaign,”
she recounted.
The Polish National Foundation was established in 2016. Its purpose was to promote Poland’s national brand and to conduct scientific, educational, and cultural activities related, among other things, to fostering national, civic, and cultural awareness.
Maciej Świrski served as a member and vice-president of the Polish National Foundation’s management board from 2017 to 2018. Cezary Jurkiewicz served as chairman of the foundation’s management board from 2016 to 2018 and remained a board member until 2024.