“At the airport he was detained as if he were some dangerous terrorist responsible for an attack, and not simply someone who is perhaps being pursued purely for political reasons,” reported live from Okęcie Adrian Borecki, who accompanied Zbigniew Ziobro on the Brussels-Warsaw flight.
Shortly before 10:30, the plane carrying Zbigniew Ziobro landed at Warsaw Chopin Airport. Security services were present both in the arrivals hall and on the tarmac, where a police vehicle and officers were stationed. Zbigniew Ziobro was detained immediately after disembarking.
TV Republika crew on site
During the departure from Brussels and throughout the entire flight, he was accompanied by TV Republika reporter Adrian Borecki. Right after the former Minister of Justice was detained, the journalist reported live. “Unbelievable… Here it seems even the airport staff are shielding the anti-terror units. First, they wanted Zbigniew Ziobro to bypass everyone, to skip all the passengers – and not even on the tarmac, but already at the aircraft exit, an officer was waiting. Zbigniew Ziobro was put into a car and is now most likely being transported to the Sejm for that commission, for that illegal session chaired by Ms. Sroka. The whole spectacle was clearly staged just to arrest Zbigniew Ziobro at the airport. I think this shows what a disgrace to the Polish state this is when it comes to its security services.”
The journalist also recalled that Zbigniew Ziobro himself had announced the day before that he was in Brussels and would arrive in Warsaw on Monday around 10:00.
“After all, Zbigniew Ziobro announced yesterday evening that he was in Brussels. Around 10:00 he was supposed to land in Warsaw. That, of course, happened. But what did we see? What scenes did we witness since morning? Police officers everywhere – including outside Zbigniew Ziobro’s house. How much must that have cost in operational expenses… And all just to show how the services operate. How the Żurek supporters, Bodnar supporters, and Tusk supporters grabbed Zbigniew Ziobro.”
Borecki compared the situation to actions taken against extremely dangerous individuals.
“At the airport he was detained as if he were some dangerous terrorist responsible for an attack, and not simply someone who is perhaps being pursued purely for political reasons. We are now on the tarmac in Warsaw. We are waiting for transport, for a normal exit.”
Summarizing the entire situation, the journalist pointed to serious doubts about the legality of the services’ actions and of the commission.
“I think the scenes we witnessed today – a politician being detained on a plane in order to bring him to some meeting convened illegally, as confirmed by the Constitutional Tribunal – this is something extraordinary… Officers are following orders from their commanders, because they have to. But will they face criminal responsibility for this? That is what the Constitutional Tribunal indicates. As for who issued the orders, I think full responsibility will be taken into account. The images we have just seen best illustrate what this all looks like, what kind of situation this is…”