Grenade launcher explosion at Polish police headquarters: former commander Szymczyk in Warsaw court
The trial of Gen. Jarosław Szymczyk, former head of Polish police, has begun before the Warsaw-Mokotów District Court. He is accused of illegal possession of weapons and causing a dangerous event.
Szymczyk trial: grenade launcher explosion at police headquarters reaches court
According to wiadomosci.gazeta.pl, on Monday before 11 a.m., Gen. insp. Jarosław Szymczyk appeared before the Warsaw-Mokotów District Court alongside his lawyer. The former commander-in-chief of police did not respond to media questions. The trial is being conducted behind closed doors, in a courtroom designated for confidential proceedings.
The explosion at the headquarters of the National Police Command occurred on 14 December 2022, following Gen. Szymczyk's return from Ukraine. The former commander stated publicly that the Ukrainian authorities had given him grenade launchers as a gift, which were supposed to be spent. One of them exploded in a back area of his office, damaging the structure of rooms at the National Police Command headquarters. Szymczyk himself suffered a minor ear wound.
The District Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw presented charges against the former police chief in 2024. The indictment was filed with the court at the end of January of last year. Szymczyk is accused of possessing an RGW-90 grenade launcher without the required permit on 12–14 December 2022, of transporting it from Ukraine to Poland without customs declaration at the border crossing in Dorohusku, and of negligently causing an event endangering the life and health of numerous people present at the National Police Command headquarters.
According to the prosecutor's office, Szymczyk "removed the safety mechanisms of the RGW-90 grenade launcher and subsequently caused its discharge and violent release of energy". An explosion of the projectile containing an explosive charge in the form of octogen did not occur solely because the projectile did not arm itself in the confined space.
The Military Institute of Armament Technology confirmed in an opinion obtained by the prosecutor that the grenade launcher was in working order and set to HESH mode, which is anti-tank fragmentation. This weapon is intended for military use — a civilian cannot obtain a permit for it. At the time it was handed over, the grenade launcher had no documentation confirming that its functional characteristics had been removed.
Parallel proceedings are being conducted in which Gen. Szymczyk formally appears as an injured party. However, the Ukrainian side has informed that due to the ongoing war, it is currently unable to fulfil Polish requests for legal assistance.
Initially, the first hearing was scheduled for 13 November 2025, but the date was postponed multiple times. Gen. insp. Jarosław Szymczyk served as commander-in-chief of police in 2016–2023.
Source: Google News PL