2024-12-19 19:33 update: 2024-12-20, 14:53
Photo: PAP/Paweł Supernak
The Hungarian government has granted asylum to Marcin Romanowski, a Polish former deputy justice minister who is wanted under criminal charges, Romanowski's lawyer announced on Thursday.
Bartosz Lewandowski, Romanowski's lawyer, announced on the X platform on Thursday that his client had been granted asylum in Hungary due to "actions infringing upon his rights and freedom undertaken by the Polish government and the subordinate National Prosecutor's Office."
On Thursday, a Warsaw court issued a European Arrest Warrant for Romanowski.
According to Lewandowski, "the material presented to the Hungarian authorities in the form of numerous published posts and statements by representatives of the current ruling majority, directly testifies to the involvement of the (Polish law enforcement - PAP) services in persecuting members of opposition parties."
Romanowski wrote in his request that he "cannot expect a just trial in Poland due to the political involvement of some judges who openly support the incumbent justice minister," his lawyer said.
Just hours before Lewandowski broke the news, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said: "Should Budapest take any odd decisions that would be inconsistent with the European law, such as (granting - PAP) political asylum or ignoring the European Arrest Warrant, (Hungarian Prime Minister - PAP) Victor Orban would be the one in a precarious position, not I."
In his role as a deputy justice minister in the socially-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government, Romanowski oversaw the so-called Justice Fund, a special-purpose reserve aimed at helping victims of crimes. Prosecutors accuse him of committing 11 crimes, being part of an organised criminal group and awarding contracts financed by the Justice Fund to selected bidders, which resulted in defrauding PLN 107 million (EUR 25 mln) and an attempt to defraud a further PLN 58 million (EUR 13.56 mln).
Gergely Gulyas, head of the Hungarian Prime Minister's Office, confirmed to the Hungarian website mandiner.hu later on Thursday that Romanowski had been granted political asylum in the country. (PAP)
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