The court’s dismissal of the “Polish thread” in the Sławomir Nowak scandal, approved by the prosecutor reshuffled after the elections, sparked outrage and raised questions about the state of the judiciary under the rule of the December 13 Coalition. It is worth recalling in detail just how serious and specific the charges once formulated by the prosecution were, and which have now been deemed “obviously groundless.” This was not a matter of a single vague allegation, but of a series of corrupt activities amounting to hundreds of thousands of zlotys.
The court’s decision to discontinue the case before it even began, citing an alleged “obvious lack of factual basis for the charges,” is all the more striking when one examines the details of the indictment.
Paid Protection and Jobs in State-Owned Companies
The central and most serious charge within the “Polish thread” concerned the period when Sławomir Nowak was one of the most influential figures in the country, serving as Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Donald Tusk and later as Minister of Transport. According to investigators, Nowak at that time accepted “material benefits in exchange for assistance in securing lucrative positions and contracts in state-owned companies.”
Po to Tuskowi była prokuratura. Po Grodzkim i Giertychu przyszła kolej na Nowaka. Jego sprawa korupcyjna była wyjątkowo dobrze udokumentowana, a i tak ją skręcono.https://t.co/sHYaLc7Iut
— Sebastian Kaleta (@sjkaleta) September 20, 2025
The prosecution specified the exact sum that Nowak was alleged to have received for leveraging his influence. As recorded in the investigation files, “in this part of the proceedings, the amount of accepted bribes totals no less than 320,000 zlotys” (over 75,000 euros).
Hundreds of Thousands for a Meeting with Gdańsk Authorities
But that was not the end of the list of charges. Another count included in the indictment concerned mediation and the use of his political connections in his hometown, Gdańsk. Investigators established that Nowak, in return for a “material benefit of approximately 760,000 zlotys (over 178,000 euros), undertook to arrange a meeting between representatives of a development company and the Gdańsk city authorities.”
This means that the former minister, according to the prosecution, for the staggering sum of nearly one million zlotys (over 235,000 euros), was allegedly selling access to Gdańsk officials, facilitating a private company’s business dealings.
https://t.co/ISpGZfC43d
— Stowarzyszenie Ad Vocem (@StAdVocem) September 20, 2025
Grodzki, Giertych, Wałęsa, Nowak, Banaś, Kramek, Wojtunik, Domaradzki … wierzchołek góry lodowej
Rzadko się zdarza, żeby prokurator podjął decyzję o przychyleniu się do umorzenia sprawy po wpłynięciu aktu oskarżenia. Szczególnie w takiej sprawie,…
Document Forgery
Nor did it end there. The “Polish thread” also covered charges of forgery. The former minister was accused of “inciting a physician from the Military Medical Institute in Warsaw to issue him medical certificates.” These documents were allegedly used by Nowak to justify absences from work during his tenure as head of Ukraine’s road agency, Ukravtodor.