The court rejected the prosecutor’s motions to impose preventive measures against the Mayor of Nowy Sącz, Ludomir Handzel, his deputy Artur Bochenek, and the detained city officials, and ordered their release, the City Hall of Nowy Sącz announced. It was not specified what measures were sought – most likely temporary arrest or a ban on holding office, which the court could have decided upon.
The Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA) detained the Mayor of Nowy Sącz and his deputy on Thursday morning at their homes, after which they were taken to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) branch in Katowice. Earlier, officers had detained four city officials. The arrests were related to an investigation into irregularities in a public tender for the organization of courses and workshops under the project “Development of the Vocational Competence Center in Nowy Sącz”, co-financed by EU funds. The project’s total value exceeds 600,000 euros.
In a statement published on the city’s official profile, it read: “We inform that, regarding the municipal institution employees detained by the CBA, as well as Mayor Ludomir Handzel and Deputy Mayor Artur Bochenek, the independent court, after analyzing the case files, rejected the prosecutor’s motions and ordered the immediate release of all these individuals. We are returning to work, and more information will be provided soon at a press conference,” the statement said.
Mayor Handzel confirmed the court’s decision in a separate post on his social media profile.
On Friday evening, the spokesperson for the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), Tine Hollevoet, confirmed that charges had been filed against all six detainees.