Head of Polish Bar Council on disclosure of testimony in parliament: politician should not inform about investigations
The president of the National Bar Council, Przemysław Rosati, assessed that the disclosure of a witness statement in the Zondacrypto affair by Prime Minister Tusk in parliament should in principle not have taken place.
President of National Bar Council: disclosure of testimony by Tusk in parliament "should in principle not have taken place"
According to Interia, Przemysław Rosati, president of the National Bar Council (NRA), spoke out after Prime Minister Donald Tusk read from the parliamentary rostrum an excerpt of testimony from a key witness in the investigation concerning the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto.
Rosati explained that from the remarks of the head of government it emerges that the Prime Minister obtained access to the information presented on the basis of Article 12, paragraph 1 of the Prosecutor's Office Act. This provision stipulates that the Prosecutor General, the National Prosecutor or other prosecutors authorised by them may transmit information regarding the activities of the Prosecutor's Office to public authorities — and in particularly justified cases also to other persons — including information about specific cases, if they may be significant for the security of the state or its proper functioning.
The lawyer noted that the consent of the prosecutor conducting a given case is not required for the transmission of such information to the Prime Minister. At the same time, he indicated that the provisions of the Prosecutor's Office Act "are silent on the subject of repeated or subsequent use of information obtained in this manner". "There is no provision prohibiting the use of such information further or its disclosure after they have been obtained by a public authority in the manner prescribed by Article 12 of the Prosecutor's Office Act," said Rosati.
Despite the absence of an explicit prohibition, the president of the NRA unequivocally assessed the Prime Minister's actions. "In principle, what we saw in parliament should not have taken place. It is not the role of a politician to inform about the progress of an investigation," he stated. He added that even during a sharp parliamentary dispute, the decision on whether and to what extent to disclose information from preparatory proceedings should be made by the competent prosecutor — preferably the prosecutor conducting the case, guided by the interests of the proceedings and important public interest.
Rosati drew attention to the broader context of the provision used by Tusk. "It must be remembered that the mechanism provided for in Article 12 of the Prosecutor's Office Act was introduced under the previous majority and even then raised serious concerns about the political use of information from investigations. Procedural information cannot become a tool of current political struggle," added the president of the National Bar Council.
The Prime Minister's reading of the testimony took place on Friday during a vote in parliament on the rejection of the president's veto to the cryptocurrency law. Tusk cited an excerpt from the protocol in which the witness recounted a conversation with a person referred to as "Zbyszek". According to the testimony, this person allegedly stated that had he known about the ongoing investigation, he would have intervened immediately, and upon returning to power in the Ministry of Justice would "sort out all these cases".
From a further part of the read protocol it emerges that the witness testified about a planned payment of two million zlotys as compensation for Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, through the Sovereign Poland foundation, which his brother established. An amount of 500,000 zlotys was to go directly to Ziobro for his personal needs. The testimony ended with the statement that "Patrycja Kotecka played the main role in this scheme" — the wife of Zbigniew Ziobro. The witness also indicated that a public figure identified as "Mr X" had promised him a pardon in the event of conviction if Karol Nawrocki won the presidential election.
The investigation into Zondacrypto was opened by the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Katowice in April in connection with fraud of considerable value and money laundering. Enforcement authorities have so far received several thousand reports of crime. In August, proceedings concerning the failed exchange were combined with an investigation into the disappearance of Sylwester Suszek, conducted by the Katowice delegation of the National Prosecutor's Office.
Suszek, founder of the BitBay cryptocurrency exchange — the predecessor of Zondacrypto — disappeared in March 2022. He was succeeded by Przemysław Kral, currently considered a key figure in the investigation. At the end of August, media reported that Kral was cooperating with the Prosecutor's Office and was seeking the status of a so-called small crown witness.
In the course of the proceedings, Radosław Piesiewicz, president of the Polish Olympic Committee, was detained and arrested, among others. He has been charged with paid protection and satisfying a group of Zondacrypto creditors to the detriment of others, in connection with the exchange's threatened insolvency. Piesiewicz has not admitted guilt.
Source: Interia