Today we reported that the request for a European Arrest Warrant for Zbigniew Ziobro was assigned to Judge Dariusz Łubowski, who was recently removed from heading the international proceedings section and – as he himself admitted – repressed after his decision on the EAW for Marcin Romanowski. The assignment of the case reportedly triggered panic at the Ministry of Justice. “Żurek is calling and pressuring the head of the district court because he is terrified that the independent Judge Łubowski will be adjudicating in the case of Zbigniew Ziobro”, wrote user Jack Strong on x.com.
Today, the portal Niezalezna reported that the National Prosecutor’s Office yesterday submitted a request for a European Arrest Warrant against Zbigniew Ziobro to the District Court in Warsaw. It was immediately registered and assigned to Judge Dariusz Łubowski, who in recent days was removed from his post as head of the single-person Section for International Proceedings in Criminal Law at the 8th Criminal Division of the Warsaw District Court, which handles, among other things, EAW requests.
“Apparently they did not coordinate their actions, because until yesterday he was the only judge adjudicating in this section. It will be interesting to see what maneuvers they now come up with to take the Ziobro case away from Judge Łubowski,” lawyers comment.
These maneuvers seem to have already begun, or at least this is suggested by the post of user Jack Strong on X. “Żurek is calling and pressuring the head of the district court because he is terrified that the independent Judge Łubowski will be adjudicating in the case of Zbigniew Ziobro. Vice Minister Mazur has also joined in the criminal pressure on judges. There is terrible panic at the ministry! They are running around offices like headless chickens!”, we read in the post by a user familiar with the workings of the justice system.
Reprisals against the judge
On Tuesday, TV Republika reported that Judge Łubowski was removed from his post as head of the international section and, as of today, was to return to adjudicating “ordinary” criminal cases.
It is impossible not to view this case in the context recently presented by Judge Łubowski himself during his remarks at a meeting of the National Council of the Judiciary. Since the decision to revoke the European Arrest Warrant against Marcin Romanowski, Judge Łubowski’s situation has reportedly deteriorated significantly. “I am experiencing situations which, in my 30-year career on the bench, I have never encountered before. I perceive these situations as harassment and repression. After the court’s spokesperson announced at a press conference that I had revoked the EAW, an hour later Minister Waldemar Żurek appeared at a press conference and allowed himself to comment on the criminal proceedings. He used crude lies in this matter, also against me,” said the judge.
Żurek: In my opinion, he was under enormous pressure
Today, Waldemar Żurek, the Minister of Justice, was asked about the matter on Radio ZET. He claimed that “we have had a problem with this section for a long time,” which “came to a standstill whenever a judge took leave or went on sick leave.” He stated that the decision to remove the judge was not his, but was taken by the court’s leadership. The minister then spoke of “justification issued in a strange mode” in the case of Marcin Romanowski.
“No one understands that he had documents against Mr. Romanowski and on the basis of those documents issued the EAW, then several months passed, maybe he was under some pressure, maybe he should have been invited here and asked: ‘Your Honor, why, having these documents, on one day do you uphold the EAW, and a few months later, when the perspective changes, do you write in the justification that we have a crypto-dictatorship, and that this is a political, not a legal, formulation?'”, Żurek stated.
Asked whether Judge Łubowski paid for this with his position, the minister denied it. “In my opinion, he did not pay for it, but suddenly – I have the impression – he was under enormous pressure, which made him change his view,” he added.