The day after tomorrow (Thursday, November 6), the Sejm Committee on Rules, Deputies’ Affairs and Immunities will debate the motion submitted by the National Prosecutor’s Office (PK) to lift the parliamentary immunity of MP Zbigniew Ziobro and to authorize his detention and temporary arrest.
The Sejm vote is scheduled for Friday.
However, Waldemar Żurek and the prosecutor’s office under his control have no intention of waiting for the outcome of that vote. As the portal Niezalezna.pl has learned, Ziobro, who is currently outside Poland, will be arrested immediately upon his return – most likely at the airport.
This will happen in violation of the law, since an MP cannot be detained without the consent of the Sejm, but Żurek and Tusk’s team already have a “justification” prepared. They intend to invoke the argument of a “state of higher necessity” and the alleged risk of Ziobro fleeing the country.
In fact, just a few days ago, speaking on Radio Zet, Żurek even threatened to send a group of “shadow hunters” after him. When asked what would happen if Ziobro were granted asylum in Hungary, he said, “Everything has its end. It happens sometimes that a special group of ‘shadow hunters’ in the police tracks such fugitives.”
“If we have a warrant that allows prosecution, a European Arrest Warrant or an Interpol red notice, we pursue that person. If someone receives legal protection from any country, we have two options: either the EAW, in which case the local court decides, or extradition. I will be very scrupulous in observing the law, but that doesn’t mean the services won’t act,” Żurek added.
It should be remembered that this would not be the first time an opposition politician has been detained despite having immunity. On July 15 of last year, officers of the Internal Security Agency (ABW) broke into the apartment of MP Marcin Romanowski, conducted a personal search, handcuffed him, and took him to the National Prosecutor’s Office, where they attempted to press charges against him. He was held overnight in a detention cell, commonly known as “the pit.”
A major international scandal erupted shortly thereafter, as Romanowski was protected by the immunity of a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
It later emerged that the prosecutor’s office had not even applied for his immunity to be lifted.