The Warsaw Police Headquarters has submitted a request to the National Prosecutor's Office for the issuance of an arrest warrant for Marcin Romanowski.
Jacek Dobrzyński, spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior and Administration (MSWiA), confirmed via social media that the decision was made due to reasonable suspicion that the politician is hiding from justice.
On Monday, the District Court in Warsaw decided to arrest Romanowski for three months in connection with charges of rigging grant competitions from the Justice Fund.
The prosecution accuses him of committing 11 crimes, including participation in a criminal organization, rigging competitions for entities that were to benefit financially, and embezzling over 107 million PLN (25.02 million EUR or 26.26 million USD) and attempting to embezzle another 58 million PLN (13.56 million EUR or 14.24 million USD).
The court found strong evidence of the alleged offenses and expressed concerns about potential tampering and the risk of a severe sentence, including up to 25 years in prison.
Warsaw, December 9, 2024. Marcin Romanowski’s defense attorney, Bartosz Lewandowski (L), speaks to the media. The court is set to review a request from the National Prosecutor’s Office regarding the potential arrest of PiS MP and former Deputy Minister of Justice, Marcin Romanowski (R). Photo: Tomasz Gzell/PAP/Forum
Romanowski and conservative politicians from the national-populist Law and Justice party (PiS) view the investigation as a "political setup" and "revenge," according to the Polish state news source PAP.
In a comment to the same source, Speaker of the Sejm (the lower house of Poland's parliament) Szymon Hołownia, currently on an official visit to Finland, stated that the politician's hiding shows a disregard for the law and reflects immoral arrogance.
In July, the Polish Parliament lifted Romanowski's immunity, and in September, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe also agreed to his detention.
Marcin Romanowski, a PiS MP and a member of the Sovereign Poland party, served as Deputy Minister of Justice from 2019 to 2023 under Zbigniew Ziobro's leadership.
Source: Radio Poland/IAR/PAP/TVN24/X/@JacekDobrzynski/@PK_GOV_PL
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