Poland’s Prosecutor’s Office Under Fire: Unveiling Political Interference and Systemic Failures

A damning report exposes how PiS-era prosecutors stalled cases, withdrew indictments and manipulated investigations to protect political allies

23 January 2025

Poland’s National Prosecutor’s Office has revealed a series of irregularities in high-profile cases under Zbigniew Ziobro’s leadership, exposing how political influence may have shaped prosecutorial decisions. From withdrawn indictments to delayed proceedings, the report details how legal processes were manipulated to protect key figures – including former Orlen CEO Daniel Obajtek.

Withdrawing indictments from court, taking back cases and overturning prosecutors’ decisions, deliberately dragging out proceedings – these are some of the pathologies described in the National Prosecutor’s Office report on political investigations under Zbigniew Ziobra.

Disappearing indictments:  A return to the Obajtek case?

A team at the National Prosecutor’s Office has taken up the case of Daniel Obajtek, former CEO of Orlen, now an MEP and a favourite of the PiS leadership, for closer examination. This is the most blatant example of alleged misuse of the prosecution service under the Law and Justice Party.

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Ewa Ivanova

Journalist by choice, lawyer by training. For years, Ewa Ivanova has been writing about the judiciary, human rights, openness of public life and issues of surveillance. She is also interested in lobbying and anti-corruption issues. She covers investigative journalism, the activities of the prosecutor's office and the services. Currently in the national section of Gazeta Wyborcza, previously in the economic section. In 2016, she was awarded the ‘Golden Scales’ - award of the Supreme Bar Council. She has been nominated four times for the ‘Grand Press’ Award in 2018, 2019 and 2020 in the categories ‘News’ and ‘Specialised Journalism’. She was also recently nominated for the 2020 Pen of Hope Award by Amnesty International. Before coming to ‘Wyborcza’, she worked at ‘Rzeczpospolita’ and ‘Dziennik Gazeta Prawna’.

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