Polish prosecutors have formally requested the removal of parliamentary immunity for former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, who is facing serious charges of abuse of power and misappropriation of funds. These allegations include the improper use of a fund designated for victims of violence, which was purportedly diverted to acquire Israeli Pegasus surveillance software for use against political adversaries.
Prosecutors assert that they possess evidence indicating that the Minister of the previous nationalist government, Ziobro, not only misallocated the funds but also established and led an organised crime group that diverted money from the Justice Fund for personal and political purposes.
Ziobro, a Catholic integralist, served as both the justice minister and prosecutor general from 2015 to 2023 under the nationalist-conservative Law and Justice party (PiS).
According to Anna Adamiak, spokesperson for the General Prosecutor’s Office, approximately 150 million zloty has been misappropriated from the Justice Fund. Prosecutors are seeking Ziobro’s arrest on charges that could result in a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
The current government, led by centre-right Prime Minister Donald Tusk, has claimed that Pegasus was used to surveil political opponents, including significant figures from Tusk’s party. Investigations into these allegations are ongoing.
Prime Minister Tusk’s administration came into power with a pledge to hold the previous government accountable for alleged misconduct during its tenure. Current Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek emphasised the government’s commitment to transparency and accountability, stating that “there are no sacred cows” in their pursuit of justice.
The speaker of the Sejm, the lower house of parliament, who is responsible for processing such requests, is a political ally of Prime Minister Tusk. Previous efforts to lift the immunity of other officials, including Michał Woś, a former deputy of Ziobro, and Bogdan Święczkowski, the current president of Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal, have been initiated but not yet successful.
Former minister Ziobro has not responded immediately to the prosecutors’ allegations. He was recently in Budapest, Hungary, where he indicated he would discuss his perspective on the current political climate, characterising it as influenced by foreign interests. PiS has criticised Prime Minister Tusk as an agent of the European Union.
“I was invited to Budapest today to show my Hungarian friends what a government looks like with a prime minister anointed by Brussels. This is a system in which laws are broken, judges are removed from office, and citizens are deprived of the right to random assignment of judges,” Ziobro posted on X on 27 October.
Hungary, governed by nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, has previously hosted certain politicians affiliated with PiS as Polish authorities sought their extradition.
During a parliamentary commission investigating the use of Pegasus on 29 September, Ziobro stated that he had initiated the purchase of the surveillance software, asserting that it was used for legitimate purposes—specifically to uncover the activities of individuals involved in embezzling Polish assets.
This article used information from The Associated Press
