“If these state officials once again fail to appear, we will then apply coercive measures provided for in the Code of Criminal Procedure,” said Judge Przemysław Radzik in an interview with niezalezna.pl. Radzik has just renewed summonses for Prime Minister Donald Tusk and former Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar. The case concerns proceedings into the so-called coup d’état in the judiciary. As we have learned, current Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek also cannot feel at ease.
Let us recall: Judge Przemysław Radzik, Deputy Disciplinary Officer for Common Court Judges, launched preparatory proceedings on February 21 “regarding a coup d’état in the field of justice.” It primarily concerns actions and omissions of judges of common courts between December 13, 2023 and February 2025, consisting of participation in an organized criminal group aimed at changing the constitutional system of the state and removing or disabling constitutional state bodies – the National Council of the Judiciary, the Constitutional Tribunal, and the Supreme Court.
Shortly afterward, summonses were sent to Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Justice Minister Adam Bodnar. Despite being properly notified several days in advance, both politicians ignored the summons. Neither Tusk nor Bodnar appeared at the RDSSP headquarters on Rakowiecka Street 30 in Warsaw.
According to information obtained by niezalezna.pl, both still have a chance to redeem themselves. Tusk and Bodnar have received new summonses, this time for September 23 and 24 of this year. They are therefore informed of the planned hearings more than three weeks in advance. As before, they have been invited to the office of the Disciplinary Officer for Common Court Judges.
We asked Judge Przemysław Radzik, who is conducting the proceedings, about the case and the planned actions.
“I have issued summonses for former minister Adam Bodnar and Prime Minister Donald Tusk as part of the inquiry into the so-called coup d’état in the judiciary,” said the Deputy Disciplinary Officer.
He reminded that “the proceedings have been ongoing since February this year.”
“It concerns the actions of judges cooperating with politicians, whose aim was and is to overthrow the constitutional legal order of the Republic of Poland,” he added.
He assured that “the activities are ongoing.”
“In order to clarify all the circumstances of the case, it is necessary to question Bodnar and Tusk,” he continued.
He also recalled that “in July, both men failed to appear for questioning without justification, despite having been properly served with summonses.”
“I assume this situation will not be repeated. However, if these state officials once again fail to appear, we will then apply coercive measures provided for in the Code of Criminal Procedure,” he warned.
Asked whether Bodnar’s loss of office changes his situation, he replied:
“The activities concern his actions as Minister of Justice. The fact that he no longer holds the position is irrelevant. The proceedings relate to the period of criminal activity during his ministerial tenure.”
When pressed on possible actions regarding the current Minister of Justice Waldemar Żurek, he confirmed:
“Although technically the proceedings cover the period between December 13, 2023 and February 2025 – when the case was opened – if the actions of politicians cooperating with judges, or judges who became politicians, extend beyond that date, they will also fall within the scope of the proceedings.”
“Mr. Żurek may well be questioned before the end of the year,” Judge Radzik concluded.