Poland’s parliament voted late on Friday evening, November 7th, to lift the parliamentary immunity of former justice minister and prosecutor general Zbigniew Ziobro, paving the way for prosecutors to detain him on corruption charges.
In the 26 individual votes—one for each charge—248 to 261 MPs voted in favor of waiving immunity, while 184 to 197 MPs voted against, with up to a dozen MPs abstaining. In the 27th vote, approving the detention and possible temporary arrest of Ziobro, 244 MPs voted in favor, 198 against, with no abstentions. The governing coalition (KO, PSL, Polska 2050, Lewica) voted solidly in favor, joined in many cases by Konfederacja. PiS voted against en bloc (179 out of 188 present).
The vote—pushed through by Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s left-liberal government—marks the latest and most dramatic step in an escalating campaign of political persecution against the conservative opposition.
The motion, requested by Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek, accused Ziobro of committing 26 offences during his tenure, including leading a “criminal group” and misusing more than 150 million złoty (€35 million) from the Justice Fund, a state body designed to support crime victims.
Ziobro’s allies in the opposition conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party dismissed the accusations as politically motivated, noting that the fund had been used to finance firefighters, hospitals, and anti-crime initiatives.
Ziobro, who is battling a serious form of cancer, is currently in Budapest, and speculation is mounting that he may seek refuge there.
Speaking to Polish media from the Hungarian capital before Friday’s vote, he declared:
I am preparing for a difficult battle. I have decided, for now, to remain in Budapest, making use of the help and friendship of our Hungarian brothers. I will not allow anyone to silence me or deprive me of my right to defence.
He alleged that a “provocation” had been prepared in Poland to detain him before he could respond publicly. “If today they were prepared to have me handcuffed in violation of all legal norms … they are capable of anything,” he said, accusing the Tusk government of acting out of revenge for past investigations into corruption among the prime minister’s close associates.
The government has justified the prosecution as a necessary act of accountability, with Żurek insisting there are “no sacred cows.” Yet critics see it as a continuation of the government’s lawfare strategy—using the courts, police, and prosecution service to neutralise political opponents.
Former deputy justice minister Marcin Romanowski, who received political asylum in Hungary last year, said the case proves that “Tusk’s government has significantly intensified its attacks on the opposition, using the illegally seized justice system as a weapon.” In a commentary for europeanconservative.com, he said these actions are part of an effort to “eliminate the conservative, pro-Atlantic opposition in Poland” following Tusk’s loss in the recent presidential elections.
