Head of Polish opposition caucus stripped of immunity over alleged Russian rocket defamation
The head of the parliamentary caucus of Law and Justice (PiS), Poland’s main opposition party, has been stripped of immunity to face charges over an incident last year when he was serving as defence minister.
Mariusz Błaszczak has been accused of defamation by the former operational commander of the armed forces, General Tomasz Piotrowski, whom Błaszczak blamed for the fact that a Russian rocket went undetected for months after landing in Poland.
In May this year, Piotrowski requested that parliament lift Błasczak’s immunity from prosecution in order to face charges for criminal defamation under article 212 of Poland’s penal code, which can carry a prison sentence of up to one year.
In a vote today, 245 MPs voted in favour of lifting Błaszczak’s immunity, with 181 against. Most of those in favour came from the four groups that make up Poland’s ruling coalition, which took power from PiS in December.
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The incident in question occurred after the remains of a Russian missile were found by a member of the public in a forest in central Poland in April 2023.
It then transpired that the missile had entered Polish airspace over four months earlier during a large-scale Russian barrage against Ukraine in December 2022.
In May 2023, Błaszczak blamed Piotrowski for failing to inform him or other relevant authorities of the missile entering Polish airspace.
“The procedures and response mechanisms worked correctly up to the level of the operational commander,” said Błaszczak, who accused Piotrowski of “not properly fulfilling his duties”, reports the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
A missile, reportedly Russian, landed in Poland in December but remained unfound until being discovered in April, reportedly by a member of the public.
The opposition has called for the defence minister to be sacked, but he blames a top general https://t.co/BaUECtvBa8
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) May 12, 2023
However, a lawyer for Piotrowski, appearing before a parliamentary committee yesterday, said that Błaszczak’s remarks contained elements that were “untrue” and “manipulated”.
This “violated the rights of my client” and also exposed him to potential “humiliation in the eyes of public opinion and…a loss of trust necessary for him to perform his function”, added the lawyer, who said Piotrowski had been made a “scapegoat”.
Błasczak responded by saying that the case against him was politically motivated and “a private indictment filed by a frustrated man”, reports PAP.
Piotrowski was one of two top Polish generals who resigned just days before last year’s parliamentary elections amid reports of conflict with the government over the Russian rocket incident. The other was Rajmund Andrzejczak, the chief of the general staff of the Polish armed forces.
Two of Poland’s top generals – the chief of the general staff and operational commander – have resigned amid reports of conflict with the government.
It comes days ahead of elections for which the ruling party has campaigned strongly on national security https://t.co/qQhRzvHsOF
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) October 10, 2023
In a separate vote today, another opposition MP, Marcin Romanowski, was also stripped of immunity by parliament to face charges over alleged abuses of power when he served as a deputy justice minister in the former PiS government.
Main image credit: MON (under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 PL)
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
