English Section
Follow us on Google

Follow us on Google to get our latest news at the top of your search results

Poland seeks EU approval to detain far-right MEP Braun

14.07.2026 17:55
Poland's Justice Minister and Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek has asked the European Parliament for permission to detain and forcibly bring in MEP Grzegorz Braun, prosecution spokeswoman Anna Adamiak said on Tuesday.
Grzegorz Braun speaks during a march in Warsaw on Sunday.
Grzegorz Braun speaks during a march in Warsaw on Sunday.Photo: PAP/Piotr Nowak

The request stems from an incident in April last year in which Braun is accused of unlawfully detaining a doctor, Gizela Jagielska, at a hospital in Oleśnica, south-western Poland.

The European Parliament lifted his immunity over the case last November, but prosecutors say they have since summoned him five times to be formally charged – without success.

Adamiak said Braun and his lawyer repeatedly left proceedings without permission or failed to return after breaks, which she called a deliberate stalling tactic.

She explained that lifting immunity from prosecution does not remove a separate protection from arrest.

A further request to parliament is needed for that, which is what prosecutors have now filed.

Braun faces six charges in total.

Four concern the hospital incident, where he allegedly detained, shoved and verbally abused Jagielska, later describing his actions as a "citizen's arrest."

The others relate to destroying campaign posters in Opole and to a December 2023 online broadcast in which he allegedly urged people to break the law.

Żurek said he had told staff to pair any future immunity request against Braun with a parallel motion for his detention, adding: "No more disregard for state institutions."

The European Parliament has lifted Braun's immunity several times before, most recently over his alleged blocking of a road during a Holocaust memorial event in Jedwabne in July last year.

He is also on trial separately in Warsaw, accused of putting out Hanukkah candles in parliament with a fire extinguisher and of storming a hospital director's office during the Covid pandemic.

(ał)

Source: PAP