The police intervention at the home of Tomasz Sakiewicz is sparking growing controversy. Despite the passage of more than a dozen days since officers forcibly entered the apartment of the CEO of TV Republika, key doubts regarding the legality of the services’ actions remain unresolved. The case has been taken up by Law and Justice (PiS) MP Mariusz Gosek, who has filed an intervention with the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw and asks directly: why has the legally required decision approved by a prosecutor still not been delivered? The politician also raises concerns about the possible disappearance of recordings from police body cameras.
Several days ago, police officers forced their way into the home of the CEO of TV Republika, Tomasz Sakiewicz. The uniformed officers did not identify themselves and handcuffed a woman who demanded it, an assistant to the head of TV Republika, and then conducted a search of the apartment without a warrant. The intervention concerned a report of a child’s attempted suicide. It was one of dozens of incidents related to false reports targeting journalists and employees of the station.
In the days since, similar false reports have also affected Prof. Sławomir Cenckiewicz and President Karol Nawrocki.
Gosek at the prosecutor’s office. “Is there no prosecutor willing to sign this?”
Today, Law and Justice (PiS) MP Mariusz Gosek went to the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw with a parliamentary intervention. Even before officially submitting it in writing, he showed TV Republika viewers the contents of the document. It is published below:
“Namely, this concerns a violation of Article 220 § 3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Even when police officers, who behaved as if they were impostors, especially one of them, enter an apartment, in this case the home of the editor-in-chief and CEO of TV Republika, Mr. Tomasz Sakiewicz, and do not present the appropriate decision because, as the spokesperson indicated, the action was urgent, they are obliged within seven days, and this deadline is strict and non-extendable, to deliver the appropriate decision approved by a prosecutor,” said Gosek in front of the prosecutor’s office.
He continued, asking: “Is there no prosecutor who would be willing to sign this? This document, this decision approved by a prosecutor, should have been delivered to the injured party, namely Mr. Tomasz Sakiewicz, and it has not been. Hence my intervention and my question. Above all, I want to obtain information about the reasons for the failure and the breach of this seven-day deadline, which, as I point out, has already passed.”
The Law and Justice (PiS) politician noted that “we are dealing with a situation in which, instead of receiving answers, this file contains more and more documents. There are also interventions addressed to the National Police Headquarters and the Warsaw Metropolitan Police Headquarters. We are multiplying questions, and on the other hand, there is silence, no response from the prosecutor’s office, no response from the National Police Headquarters or the Warsaw Metropolitan Police Headquarters, which is also conducting internal proceedings separate from the criminal proceedings conducted by the Warsaw-Mokotów District Prosecutor’s Office.”
“That is why I am here at the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw, because during a meeting with the head of the Control Department of the Warsaw Metropolitan Police Headquarters, I was informed that these proceedings remain under the supervision of the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw. Therefore, I am asking further questions: why was the seven-day deadline breached and why was this decision not delivered to the injured party, Mr. Tomasz Sakiewicz, or his legal representative appointed for these proceedings?” he said.
Asked how he assesses the lack of answers to questions posed for days, he replied: “I keep asking questions, as I said, this file keeps growing. I am directing further questions to the National Police Headquarters and the Warsaw Metropolitan Police Headquarters. I also personally intervened regarding access to recordings from police body cameras, because both officers should have been using such cameras.”
“Yesterday, I was concerned by information conveyed by Mr. Tomasz Sakiewicz that he had received a message suggesting that recordings from one of the body cameras no longer exist. I want to know whether the camera was switched on from the moment the intervention began and which recording might be missing. It may concern the camera of the officer contacting the duty officer. This is important because a body camera records both image and sound. It also includes a record of contact with the duty officer and supervision,” he added.
In his view, “today, explaining that these were trainees or interns is highly incorrect, because there is also a duty officer and individuals coordinating the actions, first dispatching the unit and then supervising the intervention. We also see phone contact there. All of this should have been recorded.”
“As I say, I keep asking questions, and both the prosecutor’s office and the police should be interested in providing answers as soon as possible, especially in light of recent events involving services entering the family apartment of President Karol Nawrocki. Unfortunately, this is not happening,” emphasized the Law and Justice (PiS) MP.
