The latest findings by Portal Zero concern the activities of Artur Habowski, the coordinator of the hospital mortuary, who allegedly published graphic photographs of human bodies on social media, including dismembered and burned bodies, bodies after decapitation, and bodies with gunshot wounds. It has now emerged that the prosecutor’s office had already examined the matter.
Another chapter in the scandal surrounding Warsaw’s Southern Hospital has sparked major controversy. The latest findings by Portal Zero concern the activities of Artur Habowski, the coordinator of the hospital mortuary, who allegedly published graphic photographs of human bodies on social media, including dismembered and burned bodies, bodies after decapitation, and bodies with gunshot wounds. The publication also discussed accounts from families alleging the promotion of a specific funeral home, as well as accusations concerning private business activities allegedly conducted on the premises of a public mortuary.
The authors of the publication stressed that they had been unable to determine whose bodies were shown in the photographs posted on Habowski’s profile, or whether the pictures could have been taken in the mortuary of Southern Hospital. This possibility was suggested by one of the outlet’s sources connected with the hospital, but the information has not yet been confirmed.
The new management board of Southern Hospital announced that, in connection with irregularities at the facility, the previous management had filed two notices with the prosecutor’s office regarding suspected crimes: the installation of a listening device in the mortuary and the breach of medical confidentiality through the publication of autopsy photographs on a social media platform.
The investigation into the listening device was discontinued. Piotr Antoni Skiba, spokesman for the District Prosecutor’s Office, explained that the device had been examined.
“It was established that there were no recordings of any kind on it. No one was recorded. It was not found that we were dealing with actions intended to record and obtain information reserved for anyone, and that investigation was discontinued,”
he added.
Shocking photographs and the prosecutor’s office’s response
In the case of the notice concerning the publication of autopsy photographs, the prosecutor’s office refused to open an investigation. According to investigators, there was no desecration of human remains, because the publications were intended to popularise knowledge about thanatology, causes of death, the effects of injuries, and their manifestations revealed during autopsy examinations.
“None of the posts contains descriptions that would indicate an intention to desecrate the bodies being examined. Quite the opposite, some of the posts (…) emphasise the need to develop knowledge in this field to ensure a dignified burial for the deceased and to allow their families to say goodbye to their loved ones in a way that minimises the associated trauma as much as possible. There is therefore no doubt that the elements of this offence were not fulfilled,”
the spokesman for the Warsaw prosecutor’s office said today.
Investigators also concluded that medical confidentiality had not been breached, as the published photographs did not make it possible to identify the person shown in them.
Prosecutor Skiba also addressed the allegations concerning the alleged steering of families toward a particular funeral company.
“The evidence in this respect was analysed. Witnesses were questioned, and such practices were not confirmed. Nor were they recorded,”
he explained.
An investigation is ongoing into the alleged forgery of death certificates for 20 people in connection with the mortuary. The case concerns the placement of the mortuary coordinator’s stamp on the documents and their signing by a person who was not authorised to do so.
In total, 32 cases concerning Southern Hospital are being conducted. Prosecutor Skiba stated that the publication of the photographs had not been included in the overall list of cases subject to preliminary review by the prosecutor’s office. This was due to the omission of the hospital’s address details in the case registration description, and until the end of Tuesday’s press conference, he had not been aware of it.