Warsaw court upholds arrest for Zbigniew Ziobro. Path to extradition from US opened
The Regional Court in Warsaw rejected an appeal by former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro and upheld the decision to place him in temporary arrest. The ruling is final and opens the possibility of seeking extradition from the USA, where Ziobro has been residing since May.
Warsaw court upholds arrest for Zbigniew Ziobro. Path to extradition from US opened
The Regional Court in Warsaw rejected the appeal filed by Zbigniew Ziobro's lawyers against the order for temporary arrest. The decision is final, although it does not mean the immediate detention of the politician – he has been in the United States since May. However, the ruling provides a formal basis for applying for extradition.
Ziobro, who headed the Justice Ministry between 2015 and 2023 in the Law and Justice government, is the subject of an investigation encompassing 26 charges. These include, among others, leading an organised crime group and illegal purchases of the Pegasus system.
In October 2025, the Sejm voted to lift Ziobro's parliamentary immunity. By that time, the politician was already in Hungary, where in December he was granted political asylum by the government of Viktor Orbán. In February 2026, a Warsaw district court accepted the prosecutor's request for arrest, which enabled the issuance of national and European arrest warrants.
Ziobro's lawyers appealed against this decision. While the case awaited review, there was a change of power in Hungary – Péter Magyar replaced Orbán. At that point, Ziobro left Budapest and went to America.
On Monday, the regional court found that the charges concerning the most serious crimes had been sufficiently documented. Court spokeswoman Anna Ptaszek stressed that at this stage guilt is not assessed, but rather whether the collected evidence is sufficiently strong and convincing to justify the isolation of the suspect.
Prosecutor Piotr Woźniak, overseeing proceedings concerning misuse of ministerial funds, indicated that while a decision to arrest is not a formal requirement for extradition, without it the chances of success of the application would be minimal.
Ziobro himself commented on the ruling as evidence of the political nature of the case. According to him, the decision was made before the trial even began and constitutes an element of political revenge by the government of Donald Tusk.
After the politician's escape to the USA, Prime Minister Tusk criticised Washington for issuing a visa, calling the action scandalous. The prosecution later revealed that Ziobro obtained a journalist visa as a correspondent for Republika television. According to Reuters, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau personally recommended to diplomats that they expedite the visa procedure, arguing that the prosecution of Ziobro is unjust.
Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek declared that the authorities would do everything to bring Ziobro before Polish justice. However, both he and Tusk cautioned that extradition proceedings in the USA are lengthy, complicated and often end in failure.
Source: Notes from Poland
Source: Notes From Poland