“Members of parliament were not allowed to enter the building of the National Council of the Judiciary to conduct a parliamentary inspection; we were barred from entering. This is unlawful, it constitutes the seizure of a constitutional body and prevents us, as MPs, from performing our mandate. We have already filed a notification with the prosecutor’s office, which concerns not only Article 128 of the Criminal Code, i.e. an attack on a constitutional body of the Republic of Poland, but also Article 224, i.e. exerting influence on official activities,” said Law and Justice (PiS) MP Dariusz Matecki on “Political Coffee.”
On Wednesday, two prosecutors, accompanied by police, entered the National Council of the Judiciary, which houses the offices of the Disciplinary Spokesperson for Judges of the Common Courts. The searches lasted over 12 hours. Prosecutors seized disciplinary case files. As the media reported, after several hours of occupation of the National Council of the Judiciary, damaged doors, cabinets and safes were left behind.
“The Supreme Court has confirmed the legality of the spokespeople, so this entry into the National Council of the Judiciary was completely unlawful. There is no provision in Poland – this spokesperson cannot be dismissed; that is what Polish law states, and the Supreme Court confirms it. The very basis for this entry was unlawful. On the same basis on which the minister of justice dismissed the spokespeople, I could dismiss MP Ćwik from being an MP or the prime minister from being prime minister. I cannot do that, which is why the Ministry of Justice could not dismiss the spokespeople,” stressed the guest on TV Republika, Law and Justice (PiS) MP Dariusz Matecki.
Matecki was on site during the activities carried out by the prosecutor’s office and the police.
“The entire building was seized – not only those few rooms where the prosecutors were conducting their activities, who I hope will one day answer for this, but the entire building was secured. Members of parliament were not allowed to enter to conduct a parliamentary inspection; we were barred from entering. This is unlawful, it constitutes the seizure of a constitutional body and prevents us, as MPs, from performing our mandate. We have already filed a notification with the prosecutor’s office, which concerns not only Article 128 [of the Criminal Code], i.e. an attack on a constitutional body of the Republic of Poland, but also Article 224, i.e. exerting influence on official activities,” the guest of “Political Coffee” indicated.
“We were not only intervening in such an important body, which is meant to safeguard the independence of courts and judges; we wanted to show how Donald Tusk’s government operates. A crime was committed there. Those people will face criminal consequences for what they did when a lawful prosecutor’s office returns,” he added.