An extraordinary session of the Warsaw Council will take place on Friday evening, Council Chairman Ewa Malinowska-Grupińska (KO) confirmed to PAP. The session was convened at the request of the PiS councilors, who expect an explanation from the mayor of the capital, Rafał Trzaskowski, about the so-called garbage scandal.
The PiS councilors club has requested an extraordinary hearing from the Chairman of the Warsaw City Council in connection with the CBA’s arrest of the city’s secretary, former finance minister in the PO-PSL government, Włodzimierz Karpiński.
A scandal at the Warsaw MPO
Karpiński was detained in an investigation into contracting with the Warsaw municipal cleaning company. The former minister was president of this company in 2019-2021. In April 2021, he won the contest for city secretary. He heard allegations of accepting nearly PLN 5 million in bribes in connection with the selection process of companies participating in the waste collection process in Warsaw. He faces up to 12 years in prison. He was temporarily arrested. The former minister pleaded not guilty.
Chairman Malinowska-Grupińska confirmed on Wednesday that the extraordinary meeting of the Warsaw Council will take place at the Palace of Culture and Science on Friday at 6 p.m.
Extraordinary session
The head of the Warsaw club of PiS councillors, Dariusz Figura, announced that the session would proceed according to the club’s agenda. As he added, the councilors hope that Rafał Trzaskowski will answer any question related to the so-called. garbage scandal.
The agenda of the PiS councilors included, among other things: information from the mayor of the capital about irregularities in the organization of municipal waste collection and their consequences for residents of Varsov, as well as information about the current situation in the MPO.
PiS councilors also expect information from Rafał Trzaskowski about corruption threats in City Hall and municipal companies, and how the city is countering these threats. They also want the tenders organized at the MPO for the collection of waste in the years 2020-2022 to be checked by the Audit Committee operating in the municipality. They propose a motion for a resolution on this issue.
Extraordinary Session by founded by us on Friday at 6 pm at the Palace of Culture and Science (4th floor, Sala Warszawska), we hope that @trzaskowski_ will answer all questions related to #AferaŚmieciowaPO
– wrote Warsaw City Councilor Dariusz Figura on Twitter.
Organized crime group?
Karpiński was detained by order of the Silesian branch of the National Public Prosecutor’s Office in Katowice in the course of the investigation, which included his detention in early February. former Deputy Finance Minister Rafał Baniak. Baniak – who is also pleading not guilty – was charged with leading an organized crime group and calling for influence. They are related to the conclusion of contracts with the Warsaw MPO worth PLN 600 million. There are a total of 14 suspects in this case.
Secretary of the capital of Warsaw, he was arrested for 90 days by the decision of the Katowice-Wschód court. The head of the Silesian branch of the PK prosecutor Tomasz Tadla said after the arrest meeting that the Katowice court shared the prosecutor’s arguments and was guided by the high probability of committing a crime. The public prosecutor further said that in this case there are not only fears of subterfuge, but even – in the opinion of the criminal investigation department – the suspect has already taken actions that bear the characteristics of subterfuge.
The suspect’s lawyer, lawyer Michał Królikowski, disagreed. He announced that he would appeal the court’s decision. According to the lawyer, Karpiński is facing “the defamation of co-defendants”.
In my opinion, there is no direct evidence that Mr. Włodzimierz Karpiński took part in committing a prohibited act – there are allegations about it. And how we judge them – whether they are sufficient for arrest or not is a matter of dialogue with the prosecutor’s office and the court
said the lawyer.
Trzaskowski suspends the subordinate
Mayor Trzaskowski announced that he had suspended Karpiński from the duties of the city’s secretary.
In Poland, in which I believe and for which I will fight, the principle of the presumption of innocence applies. In Poland, PiS has the principle of presumption of guilt. Włodzimierz Karpiński was suspended from the duties of the Warsaw Secretary. But the court will decide whether he is guilty or not guilty
he wrote on Twitter.
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Source: wPolityce