The head of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration triumphantly announces arrests in the case of false bomb threats, although the background of the investigations reveals chaos and manipulation of facts. A Warsaw-based lawyer was “caught” over letters sent by post at the beginning of the year. Other suspects are being detained mainly over old cases. The prosecution explains in a bizarre way why journalists from TV Republika who were targeted in the attacks do not have victim status in the case. For now, footage of the police entering the apartment of editor-in-chief Tomasz Sakiewicz, CEO of TV Republika, will not be released.
Over the weekend, information emerged that a Warsaw lawyer had been triggering false alarms about planned attacks on the most important figures in the country. The 48-year-old was detained by officers from the Criminal Terror and Homicide Unit of the Warsaw Metropolitan Police Headquarters, acting on orders from the Warsaw-Śródmieście District Prosecutor’s Office. He allegedly sent letters concerning planned attacks on, among others, President Karol Nawrocki and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski. All the attacks he falsely reported were supposed to involve the “physical elimination” of these individuals.
The lawyer’s case. Detained many days earlier
“Another person detained in connection with false alarms and impersonation. This time in a different case than the recent ones. A well-known Warsaw lawyer,” the head of the Ministry wrote on X on Sunday. However, the first reports had already appeared on Saturday, including in posts by Radio ZET journalists. Roman Giertych also joined the propaganda battle.
As confirmed by the Warsaw Regional Prosecutor’s Office, the lawyer had in fact been detained as early as May 20. This means the public was informed about the case only after 10 days, with the narrative being linked to false reports concerning TV Republika and President Karol Nawrocki.
Moreover, investigators told us that the acts Maciej Z. is suspected of committing took place up until March of last year. The lawyer did not engage in spoofing, did not use the emergency number 112, and did not send cascading emails. He acted in an analog way, sending threats by post. His involvement in the May attacks is not being considered.
Charges for historical cases
There are many more detainees in connection with false alarms who are facing charges for… old cases, although an impression of a large-scale operation is being created.
Two of the five detained individuals – supposedly linked to the May series of false alarms – have heard charges that have no connection with current events. This was confirmed by the prosecution. Two of the five detainees had recently been in custody but were released by the court.
On Thursday, Ministry spokesperson Karolina Gałecka stated that four people had so far been detained in connection with false alarms, after which services intervened, among others, at politicians’ homes. “Two people are under arrest and have been charged,” she said. And – not for the first time – the spokesperson was not “precise.”
Two more individuals detained on Thursday heard charges covering acts committed between February 1, 2023 and September 5, 2025. This is the result of an investigation conducted since September 2, 2025 by the prosecutor’s office in Katowice. It concerned “issuing criminal threats via the internet and making false bomb threat reports.”
Preventive measures not involving detention were applied to Wiktor Z., including bail, a ban on leaving the country, and police supervision.
In turn, a “renewed motion for pre-trial detention” was filed with the Regional Court in Rybnik against Bartosz Ł. The man had already been held in custody in the investigation, but the court decided he should be released due to insufficient evidence.
Prosecutor Katarzyna Calów-Jaszewska stated directly in a conversation with Niezależna that the charges against Bartosz Ł. and Wiktor Z. currently concern historical events. “The investigation is ongoing; this may change,” she added.
What links the two individuals detained on Thursday? In one case – nothing. Bartosz Ł., however, is linked through joint actions, though without any proven connection to the May events, with Wiktor P., alias “Batmanik.” As reported by the media, “Batmanik” spent the last six months in custody. The court recently released him, deeming his threats “fantastical and detached from reality.”
He was detained, at the request of the Warsaw-Praga Regional Prosecutor’s Office, along with another individual on May 21 and 24 respectively. They have already received less “historical” charges: according to investigators, they are responsible for a false alarm concerning the property of Jarosław Kaczyński and one (out of several) alarms involving TV Republika. They do not admit to committing these acts.
TV Republika is not a victim
The biggest scandal concerns how the Warsaw-Praga Regional Prosecutor’s Office is conducting the investigation. The victims are not – and will not be – the journalists of TV Republika who were targeted, but… the state.
We asked prosecutor’s office spokesperson Karolina Staros who holds victim status.
“There are no victims here. These are crimes against public order and they do not have direct victims. The system is the victim. The endangerment of health is abstract, it is a general good. The functioning of the state and public safety are at risk. We are dealing with an investigation into triggering alarms where there are no individual victims – the entire society is the victim,” she told Niezależna. Judge for yourselves…
Under Polish criminal law, victim status is granted to a natural or legal person whose legal interest has been directly violated or threatened by a crime. In an investigation, such a person is a party to the proceedings.
Footage – no consent for release
The prosecution intends to separate the thread concerning the police intervention at the apartment of Tomasz Sakiewicz, CEO of TV Republika, into a separate proceeding. For now, despite weeks passing, it has still not been initiated. The matter is being handled by the Warsaw Regional Prosecutor’s Office. Police have already questioned the assistant of the CEO of TV Republika, who filed the report. This week, she is to be questioned by a prosecutor, who has still not decided whether to formally open the case.
So far, footage from body cameras worn by one of the officers who entered Sakiewicz’s apartment has not been released. At this stage, the prosecutor has not granted permission for its publication, spokesperson Piotr Antoni Skiba told us.
Another detention concerns… TVP in liquidation
The Warsaw Metropolitan Police announced on X on Saturday that another individual had been detained by the Criminal Terror and Homicide Unit. This is a 29-year-old man from Otwock County.
“A 29-year-old resident of Otwock County is suspected of making two calls to the emergency number 112 on May 18 this year, reporting a threat of an explosive device being detonated on the premises of a television station – an offense under Article 224a §1 of the Penal Code,” the police wrote.
His detention has nothing to do with the May series of attacks on TV Republika or the family home of Karol Nawrocki. It concerns false reports about bomb threats at TVP in liquidation. This is an entirely separate thread. That is why it is being investigated separately by the Warsaw Regional Prosecutor’s Office, and not by the Warsaw-Praga Regional Prosecutor’s Office.