Did 66-year-old Barbara Skrzypek, a long-time Law and Justice Party staffer, die because a Tusk-allied prosecutor did not take her health issues seriously but interrogated her for hours, denying Skrzypek’s lawyer the right to be present? That is the allegation by Skrzypek’s party colleagues—but the prosecutor’s office denies a connection and threatens anyone linking the two events with legal action.
Since coming to power, the Polish government led by Donald Tusk has taken a series of measures against the conservative opposition that are hardly in keeping with the vaunted rule of law that Brussels claims to defend so much. From the closure of media outlets to the imprisonment of opposition MPs, this totalitarian drift is now accused by conservative opposition party members of having taken a new and fatal turn.
Barbara Skrzypek, who worked from the 1990s until 2020 as director of the Law and Justice (PiS) office and chief of staff of Jarosław Kaczyński, and later, until 2024, as a member of the board of directors of the Kaczyński Institute, died last Saturday, three days after being questioned by the prosecutor in a corruption case linked to Kaczyński.
On Wednesday, March 12th, Skrzypek was called to testify at the prosecutor’s office regarding the alleged Two Towers PiS scandal, a corruption case from 2018-19 that was reopened earlier this year. Krzysztof Gotkowicz, Skrzypek’s lawyer, was barred from attending her interrogation after the prosecutor argued that it was not a criminal interrogation and, therefore, the lawyer’s presence was not required.
Gotkowicz justified the need for his presence by highlighting his client’s poor health and the stress caused by having to testify, especially since she has never been in conflict with the law. He also pointed out the presence of two lawyers for the opposing party as something that “could be interpreted as an element of pressure,” but his concerns were disregarded. Prosecutor Ewa Wrzosek said that these health problems were not enough to interrupt the proceedings and that Gotkowicz had not provided any evidence to the contrary.
After nearly five hours of interrogation, Skrzypek had difficulty breathing and did not feel up to meeting with Jarosław Kaczyński, so they made an appointment for Monday.
However, on Saturday evening, Skrzypek died.
The Warsaw prosecutor’s office, through its spokesman Piotr Skiba, stated that they have launched an investigation, but that “the death occurred in the early hours of March 15, in an apartment, in the presence of a family member” and that “the ambulance doctor who went to the scene pronounced the death and issued a death certificate in which he wrote ‘sudden death of unknown cause’.”
Skrzypek’s death has provoked an angry response from Law and Justice leaders, who blamed the prosecution’s actions for what happened. Kaczyński himself stated on X:
The summons and the many hours of questioning by the neo-prosecutor Wrzosek were a tremendous shock and enormous stress for Barbara Skrzypek. This was said by Barbara herself when she was unjustifiably denied the assistance of a lawyer, but also immediately after the interrogation. Barbara Skrzypek’s death is therefore directly related to this interrogation and the slander to which she was subjected by the prosecutor, Roman Giertych and his associates. We will not be intimidated.
MEP Dominik Tarczyński went even further, pointing out that Skrzypek was “persecuted to death by Donald Tusk’s regime.”
In the face of these and other reactions, the Warsaw District Prosecutor’s Office issued a statement and a report justifying its actions, insisting that the four-hour interrogation had been conducted “in a very civilized atmosphere” and that Skrzypek had even been given “a break of several minutes to rest.” The statement also reiterated that the denial of the presence of Skrzypek’s lawyer was justified “because the interests of the witness did not require it.” Finally, the statement said that any attempt to “link the witness’s death to her interrogation … will result in the prosecution filing a civil suit to protect the good name of the institution and the person in charge of the case.” Meanwhile, prosecutor Ewa Wrzosek also announced that she would take legal action against those who suggest that Skrzypek’s death was the result of her interrogation.
The prosecutor’s report was called “unprofessional” by several lawyers who raised even more doubts about the procedure. According to the report, which does not mention the atmosphere or the behavior of the witness, the almost five-hour interrogation contained nine questions, eight from prosecutor Wrzosek and one from the two lawyers. In the opinion of Dr. Michał Skwarzyński, such an interrogation “does not take five hours, but one hour at most.”
Criticism has also been directed at Ewa Wrzosek because of her political affiliation, which is seen as incompatible with her role as a prosecutor. In 2016, with PiS in government, she rose to head of the Warsaw-Mokotów district prosecutor’s office but was fired three months later. Since then, Wrzosek has actively aligned herself with the Civic Platform and even participated in the anti-PiS march organized by Donald Tusk on June 4, 2023. Nevertheless, the government continues to defend the “independence” of the prosecutor.
At the time of writing, Tusk had not commented on the events. President Andrzej Duda has demanded explanations and Karol Nawrocki, the independent conservative presidential candidate supported by PiS, expressed absolute indignation:
I see this case as the culmination of the destruction of the Polish prosecutor’s office and its politicization. … I am running for office so that we do not have to live in a state where a lawyer is not allowed, a politician is sent to an old woman in serious health and ends up dying. This must stop, because the Polish state is sinking into the chaos to which Donald Tusk is leading us.
Persecuted to Death? Welcome to Tusk’s Poland
Barbara Skrzypek
Photo: Dominik Tarczyński on X, 15 March 2025
Did 66-year-old Barbara Skrzypek, a long-time Law and Justice Party staffer, die because a Tusk-allied prosecutor did not take her health issues seriously but interrogated her for hours, denying Skrzypek’s lawyer the right to be present? That is the allegation by Skrzypek’s party colleagues—but the prosecutor’s office denies a connection and threatens anyone linking the two events with legal action.
Since coming to power, the Polish government led by Donald Tusk has taken a series of measures against the conservative opposition that are hardly in keeping with the vaunted rule of law that Brussels claims to defend so much. From the closure of media outlets to the imprisonment of opposition MPs, this totalitarian drift is now accused by conservative opposition party members of having taken a new and fatal turn.
Barbara Skrzypek, who worked from the 1990s until 2020 as director of the Law and Justice (PiS) office and chief of staff of Jarosław Kaczyński, and later, until 2024, as a member of the board of directors of the Kaczyński Institute, died last Saturday, three days after being questioned by the prosecutor in a corruption case linked to Kaczyński.
On Wednesday, March 12th, Skrzypek was called to testify at the prosecutor’s office regarding the alleged Two Towers PiS scandal, a corruption case from 2018-19 that was reopened earlier this year. Krzysztof Gotkowicz, Skrzypek’s lawyer, was barred from attending her interrogation after the prosecutor argued that it was not a criminal interrogation and, therefore, the lawyer’s presence was not required.
Gotkowicz justified the need for his presence by highlighting his client’s poor health and the stress caused by having to testify, especially since she has never been in conflict with the law. He also pointed out the presence of two lawyers for the opposing party as something that “could be interpreted as an element of pressure,” but his concerns were disregarded. Prosecutor Ewa Wrzosek said that these health problems were not enough to interrupt the proceedings and that Gotkowicz had not provided any evidence to the contrary.
After nearly five hours of interrogation, Skrzypek had difficulty breathing and did not feel up to meeting with Jarosław Kaczyński, so they made an appointment for Monday.
However, on Saturday evening, Skrzypek died.
The Warsaw prosecutor’s office, through its spokesman Piotr Skiba, stated that they have launched an investigation, but that “the death occurred in the early hours of March 15, in an apartment, in the presence of a family member” and that “the ambulance doctor who went to the scene pronounced the death and issued a death certificate in which he wrote ‘sudden death of unknown cause’.”
Skrzypek’s death has provoked an angry response from Law and Justice leaders, who blamed the prosecution’s actions for what happened. Kaczyński himself stated on X:
MEP Dominik Tarczyński went even further, pointing out that Skrzypek was “persecuted to death by Donald Tusk’s regime.”
In the face of these and other reactions, the Warsaw District Prosecutor’s Office issued a statement and a report justifying its actions, insisting that the four-hour interrogation had been conducted “in a very civilized atmosphere” and that Skrzypek had even been given “a break of several minutes to rest.” The statement also reiterated that the denial of the presence of Skrzypek’s lawyer was justified “because the interests of the witness did not require it.” Finally, the statement said that any attempt to “link the witness’s death to her interrogation … will result in the prosecution filing a civil suit to protect the good name of the institution and the person in charge of the case.” Meanwhile, prosecutor Ewa Wrzosek also announced that she would take legal action against those who suggest that Skrzypek’s death was the result of her interrogation.
The prosecutor’s report was called “unprofessional” by several lawyers who raised even more doubts about the procedure. According to the report, which does not mention the atmosphere or the behavior of the witness, the almost five-hour interrogation contained nine questions, eight from prosecutor Wrzosek and one from the two lawyers. In the opinion of Dr. Michał Skwarzyński, such an interrogation “does not take five hours, but one hour at most.”
Criticism has also been directed at Ewa Wrzosek because of her political affiliation, which is seen as incompatible with her role as a prosecutor. In 2016, with PiS in government, she rose to head of the Warsaw-Mokotów district prosecutor’s office but was fired three months later. Since then, Wrzosek has actively aligned herself with the Civic Platform and even participated in the anti-PiS march organized by Donald Tusk on June 4, 2023. Nevertheless, the government continues to defend the “independence” of the prosecutor.
At the time of writing, Tusk had not commented on the events. President Andrzej Duda has demanded explanations and Karol Nawrocki, the independent conservative presidential candidate supported by PiS, expressed absolute indignation:
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