Other conditions for Palikot's release include him being covered by police supervision, a ban on leaving the country combined with the seizure of his passport and a ban on him contacting any suspects and witnesses in the case.
As stated in the court's press release - the evidence gathered indicates a high probability that the acts charged were indeed committed. The high bail is also dictated by a fear of obstruction of justice, going into hiding or trying to escape due to a severe prison sentence threat.
The court's decision to grant Palikot the possibility to leave the arrest on bail has already been protested by the prosecutor - Łukasz Kudyk from the National Prosecutor’s Office in Wrocław - who believes that such an option should not be enabled at all. He pointed out that the key element of the arrest motion was the risk of obstruction of the investigation by the accused.
Meanwhile, the defence has announced it will also protest the court's decision - deeming the pre-trial detention unnecessary measure. Attorney Jacek Dubois, who is part of Palikot's defence team, has also protested the fact that Palikot's confiscated phone contained their conversations - and by gaining access to them the authorities broke the attorney-client privilege. According to the prosecutor, however - when the phone was inspected, Dubois was not yet Palikot's attorney, as he was only engaged following the arrest.
All in all, Poland's National Prosecutor's Office has brought eight serious charges against Janusz Palikot - and he faces up to 20 years in prison. The accussations relate to the "Skarbiec Palikota" ("Palikot's Treasury") campaign. In its course, consumers were encouraged to buy loan-bonds of Polskie Destylarnie (Polish Distilleries), a company on whose board Janusz Palikot sits. Polskie Distylarnie ended the campaign after a month and a half, however - and stopped paying interest on the loans.
According to prosecutor Katarzyna Calów-Jaszewska, Janusz Palikot, and his two associates: Przemysław B. and Zbigniew B., supposedly used the scheme to defraud more than 5,000 bond buyers of approximately EUR 16.2 million. The accused are also said to have misappropriated alcoholic beverages valued above EUR 1.15 million.
The prosecutor's office applied non-custodial preventive measures against all of the accused. Janusz Palikot pledges that he is innocent.
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Source: IAR, PAP