“Prosecutors must verify whether anyone helped Zbigniew Ziobro effectively escape to the United States. And such effective assistance is facilitation. It will not be me who assesses it, but the investigative team, and then the court will probably assess it later if the investigators conclude that Mr. Sakiewicz had something to do with it,” said Waldemar Żurek, Minister of Justice and Prosecutor General, today.
On Sunday, TV Republika reported that former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro had left Hungary and traveled to the United States. As announced, he is set to become a commentator for TV Republika. A day later, the president of TV Republika, Tomasz Sakiewicz, received a summons to the prosecutor’s office as a witness in an investigation conducted “against Zbigniew Ziobro and others.”
Tomasz Sakiewicz has been summoned for May 20 at 9:00 a.m. to the National Prosecutor’s Office, and the document includes the note “mandatory appearance.” The summons was signed by prosecutor Piotr Woźniak. Although the document clearly states that the prosecution is summoning Tomasz Sakiewicz “as a witness” in the case involving, among others, Zbigniew Ziobro, the head of the National Prosecutor’s Office, prosecutor Dariusz Korneluk, spoke in the media about “the crime of aiding and abetting.”
Dariusz Korneluk was directly asked on TVN24 whether a summons as a witness could later “turn into some charges (…) of aiding in Ziobro’s escape to the United States.” He replied that he “cannot rule it out.”
Żurek: “The court will assess it“
Today, Waldemar Żurek, Minister of Justice and Prosecutor General, was asked about Tomasz Sakiewicz’s summons to the prosecutor’s office during a meeting with journalists in the Sejm. A journalist pointed out that Żurek had spoken about “possible aiding and abetting” and asked whether charges would be brought.
“I am not saying anything; I am only saying that assisting persons who are wanted by the authorities is punishable in Poland. The prosecutor’s office summoned Mr. Sakiewicz because we had a statement from the television he heads that it suddenly has a new correspondent. Prosecutors must verify whether anyone helped Zbigniew Ziobro effectively escape to the United States. And such effective assistance is facilitation. It will not be me who assesses it, but the investigative team, and then the court will probably assess it if the investigators conclude that Mr. Sakiewicz had something to do with it,” Żurek said.
He added that “we will conduct this investigation, but I warn you – assisting persons who are wanted in Poland is a crime, regardless of who commits it.”