Warsaw court rejects arrest request for Piotr W. following Constitutional Tribunal incident
The District Court for Warsaw-Śródmieście rejected a prosecutor's request for a one-month remand in custody for a man detained during a police intervention at the Constitutional Tribunal. According to rp.pl, the judge emphasised that remand in custody should be applied only as a measure of last reso
Court refused to remand man detained at Constitutional Tribunal
The District Court for Warsaw-Śródmieście on Sunday rejected a request from the District Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw-Śródmieście for the remand in custody of Piotr W. for a period of one month. The Prosecutor's Office justified the request on the basis of the need to conduct a court-ordered psychiatric examination of the man and concerns about his possible flight, given that from the beginning of the proceedings he had refused to provide his personal data and address. According to Piotr Antoni Skiba, spokesperson for the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw, the court's decision was to be analysed in the following week with regard to a possible appeal.
In justifying her decision, the judge pointed out that remand in custody should be applied only when other preventive measures prove insufficient to secure the proper conduct of proceedings. The man's previous lack of criminal record was also significant, as was the fact that the evidence gathered—statements from the injured parties and recordings from officers' body cameras—substantially suggest his guilt; however, the court found that the circumstances did not warrant the application of this most severe measure.
The incident took place near the Constitutional Tribunal. From footage published by Warsaw police from a body-worn camera, it emerges that Piotr W. refused to identify himself to two officers and subsequently pushed one of the policewomen and attempted to flee. He was detained after a short pursuit. The material shows that the officers used force against the detainee. In his statement, the man complained of head injuries and the lack of appropriate medical examination.
As reported by rp.pl, during questioning on Saturday evening in his capacity as a suspect, Piotr W. refused to provide an explanation and did not admit to the alleged acts. He lost consciousness when informed of the request for remand in custody. It is unofficially known that the man had no fixed place of residence in Warsaw and had recently been living in one of the capital's aid organisations.
The Prosecutor's Office explained that Friday's police actions were related to the heightened security level currently in effect in Poland, codenamed Bravo, which provides for increased checks and interventions against persons behaving in a manner giving rise to suspicion, including those who do not respond to attempts to identify them.
Source: Google News PL — Crime (pl)