Polish police have searched a monastery for Conservative (PiS) MP and former deputy justice minister Marcin Romanowski for whom an international arrest warrant had been issued in connection with charges that he and his colleagues had allegedly defrauded public money.
On December 19, six armed masked officers with cameras and drones raided the Dominican Monastery in Lublin looking for Romanowski, whom that same day had been granted political asylum in Hungary.
During the search the police entered monks’ private quarters taking photographs. That came two days after the public prosecutors had briefed the media that Romanowski had fled the country, which was why authorities had applied for an international arrest warrant.
The police action against the Dominican order took place as Poland’s Ombudsman on December 20 published a highly critical report of the way a Catholic priest named Father Olszewski had been treated while being detained by the police. That was in connection with an investigation into fraud at the justice ministry earlier this year.
The Ombudsman’s report criticised the Polish authorities for his being unnecessarily handcuffed, adding that he had been denied food and water for extended periods.
The report concluded that his treatment had been repressive, saying it bore the hallmarks of harassment.
Father Ludwik Wiśniewski from the Dominican order confirmed to the Polish Press Agency (PAP) that the raid allegedly searching for Romanowski had taken place, adding that he planned to file a protest to justice minister Adam Bodnar.
According to the Lawyers for Poland association, the police action was in violation of a Concordat agreement between Poland and the Vatican. That protects places of worship from State intervention unless there was a serious threat to life, health or property.
🟥 The Association Lawyers for Poland expresses its utmost outrage at the brutal and unprecedented raid on the Dominican Monastery of St. Stanislaus in Lublin, carried out on December 19, 2024, by order of the National Prosecutor’s Office 🟥
🟥 The entry of six masked police… pic.twitter.com/qRfSv68ft3
— Prawnicy dla Polski (@PRAWNICYdlaPOL) December 24, 2024
The move also outraged PiS MPs, one of whom, Joanna Borowiak, told portal Niezależna.pl that the police operation sanctioned by the centre-left government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk reminded her of “Communist times”.
“They even enter monasteries, sacred places that should remain inviolate. This is how Communists acted. It was the Communists who fought against the Church. Now they’re [the government] doing the same,” she said.
Romanowski has been accused of defrauding the Justice Fund to the tune of €25 million and of being a member of an organised crime group composed of some justice ministry officials during the lifetime of the previous PiS government.
He and his colleagues are alleged to have used the money for political campaigning rather than for victims of crime, as it is meant to be used.
The MP’s Polish parliamentary immunity was lifted this summer after which the police detained him. That move was reversed by a court because the prosecutors had overlooked the fact that Romanowski was protected by another immunity granted to him by being a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
The PACE immunity was lifted this autumn on request of the Polish authorities and a Warsaw court earlier in December ordered Romanowski’s detention for three months to prevent him potentially perverting the course of justice. That was despite the fact that the alleged evidence prompting his indictment had already been collected.
In a successful application for international protection in Hungary, Romanowski then claimed he was being victimised for political reasons. He said he had been prepared to appear before in court but was he was not willing to suffer imprisonment for an extended period authorised by what he called a “political sanction”.
