The prosecutor’s office has issued a statement announcing that an investigation has been opened into the police intervention at the apartment of Tomasz Sakiewicz. The investigation concerns, among other things, the possible abuse of authority by officers and the falsification of a detention record. “It is very good that such an investigation has been opened. But apart from this move, I also expect those responsible for this entire cascading operation that took place at the time to be identified and caught,” Sakiewicz told Niezalezna.pl.
The scandal surrounding the police entry into the apartment of Tomasz Sakiewicz, the CEO of TV Republika, continues to reverberate. Officers entered the apartment-office in connection with a false alarm about an alleged suicide attempt by a child. Tomasz Sakiewicz said that the officers did not identify themselves. The TV station CEO’s assistant, who was present in the apartment, was handcuffed with her hands behind her back, then led out of the premises and left on the street, thus bringing the intervention to an end.
The times and facts do not add up. An investigation has been opened
Today, Niezależna.pl revealed further shocking information in this case.
“We obtained the official detention record concerning the assistant to the head of TV Republika. The document, signed by the officers, is full of glaring errors, conflicting times, and false information. Everything points to a desperate attempt to cover up the unlawful use of handcuffs,”
Niezalezna.pl journalist Tomasz Grodecki established.
Shortly after that publication, the prosecutor’s office issued a statement. According to information from investigators, the Warsaw Regional Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation on Tuesday concerning three acts, including the abuse of authority and falsification of a detention record.
Here is the statement on the matter, along with a link to the gov.pl website.
At the same time, the prosecutor’s office announced that at this stage of the proceedings it would not release footage from the body cameras worn by the police officers who intervened at Sakiewicz’s apartment.
“Due to numerous questions concerning the publication of video material from the body cameras of police officers who took part in the intervention at the apartment of editor Tomasz Sakiewicz, we inform you that at this stage of the proceedings, in view of the interests of the investigation, the prosecutor in charge of the case does not plan to publish these recordings. This decision may change at a later stage of the investigation,”
prosecutor Skiba added.
According to Niezależna.pl’s unofficial information, the prosecutor’s office is considering questioning, as part of the proceedings opened yesterday, both Tomasz Sakiewicz and the two police officers who took part in the intervention.
Sakiewicz: It is very good that the investigation has been opened. But…
Tomasz Sakiewicz was asked for comment on the matter.
“It is very good that such an investigation has been opened. But apart from this move, I also expect those responsible for this entire cascading operation that took place at the time to be identified and caught. The officers who entered my apartment were dispatched there. They felt very confident, probably convinced that they had powerful protection above them. It turned out otherwise,”
he said.
“My assistant underwent a long questioning at the police station,” Sakiewicz stressed. He recalled that he himself had earlier given extensive testimony to the police. “I know that all of this has been added to the investigation that the prosecutor’s office has just opened,” he told Niezależna.pl.
Asked about the prosecutor in charge of the case refusing to allow the publication of the officers’ body camera footage, Sakiewicz mocked the whole situation: “If the prosecutor’s office shares any concerns about my outfit, let me reassure them, I have no objection to the recordings being published. I am equally handsome in whatever clothes I happen to be wearing.”
“However, I understand that after all these police actions, the prosecutor’s office no longer trusts the police in this matter. My assistant is, of course, also in favour of publishing the full footage from the officers’ cameras,”
the CEO of TV Republika stressed.