The Sejm’s Rules, Deputies’ Affairs, and Immunities Committee voted in favor of waiving the parliamentary immunity of former justice minister and current Law and Justice (PiS) MP Zbigniew Ziobro and granted consent to his arrest and pretrial detention on Thursday evening, November 6th. The decision allows prosecutors to move forward with their charges, including leading an organized crime group and abusing public office.
“In the scope of all 26 acts mentioned in the motion and in the matter of the detention and arrest of Zbigniew Ziobro, the committee voted separately for each of the allegations and in each of these votes the result was positive,” said committee chairman and Civic Coalition (KO) MP Jarosław Urbaniak.
Ziobro did not attend the session, as the former minister remained in Budapest, where he told reporters that the proceedings were politically driven, calling the accusations “false” and “based on lies and manipulations.”
Members of Parliament are scheduled to review the committee’s report before voting on the prosecutor’s motion on Friday evening. While a majority of MPs are expected to support lifting Ziobro’s immunity, the outcome regarding his arrest remains uncertain.
PiS chairman Jarosław Kaczyński denounced the move, saying the accusations were politically motivated. “These accusations, written in a haphazard manner, without legal basis, and at the behest of political figures, are being created and presented by those who have been promoted and profit from the current government.” Kaczyński wrote on social media. It is suspected that Prime Minister Donald Tusk uses these trials to crack down on opposition politicians in an attempt to save his support in Poland, which has been dropping fast recently.
Ziobro remains in Hungary, where he said he had traveled to attend a pre-planned conference on the rule of law in the European Union. He continues to reject the charges, calling them “Donald Tusk’s revenge.”
