Polish justice minister requests lifting of opposition MP’s immunity
Prosecutor general Adam Bodnar, who also serves as justice minister, has asked parliament to lift the immunity of an opposition MP so he can be charged on suspicion of 11 crimes relating to his time as a deputy justice minister in the former Law and Justice (PiS) government.
In a statement issued on Wednesday morning, Bodnar’s office said that there is “a sufficiently justified suspicion” that the MP in question, Marcin Romanowski, committed offences including participation in an organised criminal group, having crime as a source of income and abuse of power.
As well as seeking to bring charges against Romanowski, Bodnar also wants him to be placed in pretrial detention due to concern that he would seek to “unlawfully obstruct proceedings”.
Prokurator Generalny Adam Bodnar przekazał dziś do Marszałka Sejmu RP wniosek o wyrażenie przez Sejm zgody na pociągnięcie posła Marcina Romanowskiego do odpowiedzialności karnej oraz zgody na jego zatrzymanie i tymczasowe aresztowanie.
Szczegóły: 🔽https://t.co/aucDdC1pF3
— Prokuratura (@PK_GOV_PL) June 19, 2024
The accusations stem from an investigation into alleged abuses in the management of a justice ministry fund under the PiS government. Last month, Bodnar also requested that another former justice minister and current opposition MP, Michał Woś, be stripped of immunity to face similar charges.
Both Romanowski and Woś are members of Sovereign Poland (Suwerenna Polska), a party allied with PiS whose leader, Zbigniew Ziobro, served as justice minister and prosecutor general during PiS’s time in government from 2015 to 2023.
During Ziobro’s tenure, the so-called Justice Fund, which is meant to be used to support victims of crime, rehabilitate criminals, and prevent crime, was allegedly used instead for political purposes by the ministry.
The justice ministry has published an interactive map showing how, under the former government, money intended to support victims of crime was instead seemingly used to boost the election campaigns of candidates from the party that controlled the ministry https://t.co/cFvYbqRUYV
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) May 29, 2024
Ziobro and his party have denied those claims, which they suggest are part of a political vendetta by the new government that replaced PiS in power in December last year.
Romanowski has not commented on today’s developments. However, in March, after his home was searched on the orders of prosecutors investigating alleged abuses of the justice fund, he issued a statement accusing the authorities of taking “politically motivated action” against him and his colleagues.
Members of parliament enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution. However, that can be lifted at the request of prosecutors if a majority of MPs vote in favour of doing so. The ruling coalition currently enjoys a parliamentary majority.
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Main image credit: MS (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.
