The portal wPolityce.pl has established who is behind the closure of the case of a prosecutor suspected of taking a huge bribe from one of the heroes of the TV show “Queens of Life”. Judge Marta Pilśnik, known for her other controversial decisions, ruled in court. In 2020, she could not decide for months whether Leszek Czarnecki should be arrested. Finally, in December 2020, she decided that the businessman who, according to the prosecutor’s office, is related to the GetBack scandal, is not hiding from justice! The judge also acquitted Emil Wąsacz, accused of failing to fulfill his duties during the privatization of PZU in 1999. Judge Pilśnik’s bizarre decision was upheld by the SO jury in Warsaw, which included Judge Piotr Kluz. He was a former secretary of state at the Ministry of Justice during the PO-PSL rule and a compassionate judge for street opposition fighters.
READ ALSO: Ziobro wants to revoke the decision to stop the criminal proceedings against public prosecutor Andrzej Z.! The case concerns the taking of bribes of PLN 1 million
READ ALSO: A million zloty bribe from “Queen of Life”! We know the shocking background of the investigation and indictment in this shocking case
Judge Pilśnik decided at first instance that the case of the prosecutor, who is suspected of accepting bribes, be dropped. This is all the more shocking because the courts had no doubt that Andrzej Z. would be placed in pre-trial detention earlier, and even extended the pre-trial detention.
The high-profile case of Warsaw Prosecutor Andrzej Z. was legally stopped by the Warsaw District Court in June 2022. The court then agreed with the district court’s arguments that Andrzej Z.’s immunity had not been effectively waived by the disciplinary chamber of the Supreme Court, which the court found to be operating illegally
– we read in the statement of the National Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Following this decision, Judge Pilśnik was charged with committing disciplinary crimes, including exceeding the powers of an official and questioning the status of judges serving on the (then existing) Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court . This accusation in particular was embarrassing for the judge. In an obvious criminal case, Judge Pilśnik relied on the rulings of the CJEU, which would have undermined this chamber of the Supreme Court. In January this year, the Chamber of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court (successor to the Disciplinary Chamber) passed a resolution to acquit a SR judge for Warszawa Śródmieście.
Friendly to Czarnecki
Meanwhile, the decision on the prosecutor suspected of corruption is not the only high-profile case involving Judge Pilśnik. It was she who did not accept the request of the National Prosecutor’s Office, which demanded the arrest of Leszek Czarnecki in connection with the GetBack scandal. Interestingly enough, the judge ruled that there is a good chance that the businessman will commit a crime, but according to her there is no need for pre-trial detention. According to the court’s findings, Leszek Czarnecki was not hiding from Polish law enforcement authorities. A completely different version was presented by the regional prosecutor’s office in Warsaw, which gathered strong evidence suggesting that Roman Giertych’s client committed a crime.
Fighting referee
Judge Pilśnik’s decision was upheld in the District Court in Warsaw by a court with Judge Piotr Kluz as rapporteur. He is a well-known judicial activist associated with the extremely politicized association “Iustitia” and a former undersecretary at the Ministry of Justice during the PO-PSL rule. Judge Kluz became famous for his exceptional benevolence towards street opposition militants. It was he who acquitted Paweł Kasprzak, the leader of “Polish Citizens”, in 2022. The same judge released a group of Idea Bank bankers involved in the GetBack scandal.
CHRONOLOGY OF THE CASE OF PROPOSED ANDRZEJ Z.
On April 1, 2021, the Interior Department of the State Prosecutor’s Office filed an indictment in the Warsaw Mokotów District Court in Warsaw in this case. By decision of April 30, 2021, the District Court of Warsaw – Mokotów in Warsaw declared its territorial incompetence and referred the case to the District Court of Warsaw – Śródmieście in Warsaw. The provisional detention of Andrzej Z. has been extended to August 28, 2021 by the Warsaw District Court – Mokotów (after the indictment) by decision of April 15, 2021. On May 27, 2021, the District Court in Warsaw, 10th Criminal Appeal Division, confirmed the contested decision to extend the detention.
On June 25, 2021, the District Court for Warszawa Śródmieście (SSR M. Pilśnik), which has received the case, declared itself incompetent in the case of Andrzej Z. and others and the District Court in Warsaw requested the dispute of jurisdiction between the District Court for Warsaw – Śródmieście in Warsaw and the District Court for Warsaw – Mokotów in Warsaw. The District Court in Warsaw finally appointed the District Court for Warszawa-Śródmieście in Warsaw to hear this case. The case was given a reference number XK 414/21. The case was again forwarded to the department of the SSR M. Pilśnik.
By order of August 20, 2021, the District Court of Warsaw – Śródmieście in Warsaw (SSR M. Pilśnik) pursuant to art. 253 § 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, against the accused Andrzej Z. a preventive measure in the form of pre-trial detention, and then excluded his case from separate proceedings (separate proceedings were registered with the court under the reference number XK 625 / 21 Subsequently, on November 23, 2021, the District Court for Warsaw – Śródmieście in Warsaw issued a decision to terminate the criminal proceedings against Andrzej Z. on the basis of Article 17 § 1 point 10 of the Code of Criminal Procedure due to the lack of effective authorization to to prosecute.
A complaint has been lodged against the above decision by the Department of the Interior of the National Public Prosecutor’s Office. Court The court in Warsaw confirmed the decision on appeal by decision of 24 June 2022. The reasoning of the Court shows that it shared the arguments of the Warszawa-Śródmieście District Court that Andrzej Z.’s immunity had not actually been waived by the Supreme Court’s Disciplinary Chamber.
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Source: wPolityce