The former deputy minister is the first political refugee from Donald Tusk's Poland, but others might follow.Continue reading
Former Polish Deputy Minister of Justice Marcin Romanowski will not be prosecuted with an Interpol red notice, RMF 24 reported. The international organization refused to put the Law and Justice (PiS) politician on the list of particularly wanted persons. Romanowski currently stays in Hungary where he was granted political asylum.
Interpol did not provide any arguments for refusing to issue a red notice for Romanowski, citing the principle of confidentiality. Additionally, Interpol decided that all data regarding the wanted person entered by the Polish side will be deleted. The news were confirmed by spokeswoman to the Polish Prosecutor General Anna Adamiak to PAP as well.
This decision ends the procedure, meaning that there is no possibility of international prosecution of the PiS politician in any other way than the European Arrest Warrant which only covers the territory of the European Union in practice.
According to unofficial information from RMF 24 reporter Krzysztof Zasada, the reason for Interpol’s refusal is most likely the asylum granted to the PiS politician by the Hungarian authorities.
The majority of Red Notices are restricted to law enforcement use only. Extracts of Red Notices are published at the request of the member country concerned and where the public’s help may be needed to locate an individual or if the individual may pose a threat to public safety.
Last December, the Polish authorities requested that Interpol put out a red notice for Romanowski. The politician is suspected in the Justice Fund case, which is part of the Polish justice ministry, and Warsaw issued a European arrest warrant for him at the end of 2024. Romanowski is suspected of 18 counts of criminal offenses, including participation in an organized criminal group that damaged state property, in connection with the Justice Fund tenders under the previous Polish government. PiS politicians and Romanowski himself consider the official proceedings against him to be unlawful.
Hungarian authorities granted political asylum to Poland’s former Deputy Justice Minister last December. Gergely Gulyás, the Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office, recalled in an interview with Mandiner that Poland is facing a crisis of the rule of law after last year’s elections as a result of the actions of the Tusk government. The Polish government, for example, does not enforce the decisions of the Polish Constitutional Court, and uses the instruments of criminal law against its political rivals in defiance of immunity or presidential pardons, he said. As an example, he cited the Polish justice minister’s politically motivated dismissal of court leaders and the illegal sacking of the prosecutor general.
Mr Gulyás reminded that
there was concrete evidence of a lack of due process in the case of the former deputy justice minister, who was arrested this summer despite the fact that he was entitled to immunity as a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
He was released only after the President of the Assembly lodged a formal protest with the Polish authorities and a Polish court confirmed that the arrest was unlawful, he pointed out. He added that this risk exists today in Poland in general and in particular in this present case, based on the procedure followed so far.
Mr. Romanowski’s lawyer, Bartosz Lewandowski said at the time that the politician requested protection from Hungarian authorities due to politically motivated actions by the services and Prosecution Office, which resulted in, among other things, unlawful deprivation of his liberty and violations of international law.
In addition, the reason for granting protection was the direct interference and influence of politicians of the current ruling majority in Poland on the investigation, as demonstrated by documents in the possession of Marcin Romanowski.
Furthermore, Romanowski indicated in his application that he cannot count on a fair trial in Poland due to the political involvement of some of the judges openly supporting the current Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar, as well as publicly declaring the necessity of making so-called “settlements” and therefore convicting politicians of the largest opposition party in Poland. “This is the first case of a Polish politician being granted international protection in another country after 1989,” read the lawyer’s statement.
Via RMF 24, PAP; Featured photo via Hungary Today
