“If I had made a different decision, I would be sitting in prison now,” Zbigniew Ziobro says in an interview with Telewizja Republika. The former minister of justice, referring to the prime minister’s New Year address, argues that the government’s announced “tightening of the screws” has already begun, and that his decision to remain abroad is a form of protest against what he describes as the unlawful actions of Donald Tusk’s government.
In his New Year address, Donald Tusk announced a tough line toward political opponents. “There will be no sacred cows. The law will be enforced, even if we have to tighten the screws even more,” the prime minister said.
Zbigniew Ziobro responded sharply to these remarks on Telewizja Republika. The interview, conducted in Budapest by Miłosz Kłeczek, covered both the government’s announcements and the former minister’s personal situation.
Ziobro argued that the actions of the current authorities are unlawful in nature.
“The fact that Donald Tusk and this entire gang have taken over the prosecution service illegally means actions that are entirely unlawful: an illegal National Prosecutor and illegal teams that have been appointed,” he said.
In his view, however, the key problem is something far more serious.
“Donald Tusk has decided to pull the fuses that guarantee the independence of the judiciary. This is a problem that must be confronted,” the former minister assessed.
Ziobro also referred to reports about a possible arrest and announced procedural decisions.
“Will I be arrested? Sometimes there are surprises—not all judges are independent,” he stated.
He also explained that his decision to remain abroad was not an escape, but a conscious choice.
“I did not flee. They attacked me with a motion when I was officially in Budapest at a conference devoted to violations of the rule of law in Poland. I decided not to return because I concluded that I could fight lawlessness more effectively with words and truth,” he emphasized, adding:
“If I had made a different decision, I would be in prison now.”
According to Ziobro, the prime minister’s announcements also serve a purely political purpose.
“Tusk wants to generate emotions and mobilize his hard-core electorate, because he sees this as a chance to win and to divert attention from all his failures,” he said.
The full interview with Zbigniew Ziobro conducted by Miłosz Kłeczek in Budapest is available on Telewizja Republika’s YouTube channel.