– At this stage of pardon proceedings, it is not possible to disclose the data of convicted persons covered by these proceedings or to indicate the crimes for which they were legally convicted. The National Prosecutor’s Office, implementing the president’s decisions, asked the competent courts to send files of cases covered by these pardon proceedings. After receiving them, they will be immediately forwarded to the Chancellery of the President – Anna Adamiak, spokeswoman for the Prosecutor General and Minister of Justice Waldemar Żurek, informs Wirtualna Polska.
At the beginning of February, it was revealed that President Karol Nawrocki, in his first decisions regarding the power of pardon, pardoned three people and refused to use this prerogative for five. These decisions were dictated by “humanitarian considerations, positive opinions of the courts, as well as requests by the prosecutor general to exercise the right of pardon.”
Animal drama. Shocking conditions, sick dogs and cats
What do we know about pardoned people?
As described by “Super Express”, the first person was convicted of unintentionally causing a land traffic disaster. The President conditionally suspended the execution of the prison sentence for a probation period. The key factors are: the very difficult health situation of the convicted person, his advanced age, expression of remorse, apology to the victims, incidental nature of the act, positive opinion of the community. According to “SE”, she was an 85-year-old, sick widow, she expressed remorse and had no previous criminal record.
The second pardoned person was convicted of criminal threats. The president was to decide on an act of clemency due to the very difficult health situation, the advanced age of the convicted person, the distant date of committing the act and compliance with the legal order after the verdict. According to “Super Express” sources, it was a man who suffered from cancer after an accident and was unable to serve his sentence.
In turn, in the case of the third person to whom the president applied the power of pardon, the execution of the prison sentence was conditionally suspended and the convict was placed under the supervision of a probation officer for a designated probation period. This person was to be sentenced for fraud and causing large-scale damage to business transactions,
“This decision resulted from the difficult family situation due to the serious illness of the closest person and the need to take care of them and minors, a positive opinion of the community intelligence, a significant passage of time since the crimes were committed, compliance with the legal order after the judgment was issued and the inability to use the protection measures provided for by the Executive Penal Code” – we read in “Super Express”.
According to unofficial information, he is a man taking care of his wife, who is seriously ill with cancer, and raising two children. All applications for clemency that were positively considered by the president were previously to be positively recommended by the then Minister of Justice, Adam Bodnar.
– There were many more applications and only the first part was recognized – he said in the context of the first pardons of Karol Nawrocki, Minister Marcin Przydacz on Polish Radio. As he noted, each request will be considered by the head of state very carefully. – The president will certainly take a very individual approach, and I would even say quite restrictively, he emphasized.
What about Ziobro and Borowski?
In mid-February, President Karol Nawrocki was asked about a possible pardon of former Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro. The prosecutor’s office wants to charge the politician, who is currently in Hungary, with 26 charges in connection with irregularities regarding the Justice Fund. The most serious accusation against the former Minister of Justice is that of leading an organized criminal group.
– There is no such conclusion, there is no conviction – said Nawrocki. He also added that he had no access to the documents in the proceedings pending against the former Minister of Justice. – We live in a situation in which – and I repeat this consistently – Minister Ziobro cannot count on a fair trial in Poland, I am sure of that – he said on Polsat News.
The Polish president also raised the issue of pardon at the end of January. This is the case of Adam Borowski, an opposition activist of the Polish People’s Republic and a publicist. Karol Nawrocki announced that he had commissioned a legal analysis in the case of Adam Borowski.
Borowski was sentenced to six months in prison for his statement about Roman Giertych, about whom he said on TV Republika that he was a lawyer who “collaborates with criminals.” “He not only provided such a legal shield, but also gave his friends here, agreed to his friends being these pillars,” Borowski said.
In response, Roman Giertych filed a private indictment, accusing Borowski of defamation. The District Court for Warsaw-Śródmieście agreed with the KO MP’s arguments and sentenced the publicist to six months’ imprisonment. After the verdict was announced, Borowski announced that he did not intend to execute it and would not apologize to Giertych.
Sylwester Ruszkiewicz, journalist of Wirtualna Polska
