Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of the Polish opposition Conservatives (PiS), has claimed that the lengthy interrogation of his former chief of staff Barbara Skrzypek led to her death.
He also said the fact that she had not been allowed to have her solicitor present at the interrogation was a “scandal” for which he blamed the centre-left Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s prosecutor.
On March 12, Barbara Skrzypek, who died suddenly, had been interrogated as a witness in connection with accusations by Austrian businessman Gerald Birgfellner that Kaczyński had demanded a bribe from him in 2018.
Birgfellner also alleged the PiS chief had refused to pay him for work he had carried out on an investment project involving a foundation Kaczyński controls.
Kaczyński denies Birgfellner’s accusations, saying he had not guaranteed Birkfellner any payment. He said the project the Austrian had attempted to put together could not proceed because of a lack of planning permission from Warsaw’s local authority.
The case against Kaczyński had been closed by prosecutors during the lifetime of the previous PiS government in 2019 but has been reopened by the present Tusk government with a prominent critic of the PiS, prosecutor Ewa Wrzosek, investigating the matter.
Wrzosek has often appeared in the media criticising the former PiS government. In a recent interview, she argued that in the current situation it was understandable the present Tusk government might “take short cuts and extraordinary measures to restore the rule of law”.
Skrzypek was called upon to testify because of her position as chief of staff at the PiS HQ, where Birgfellner alleged the events he referred to had taken place.
She had been a close associate of Kaczyński for 30 years.
Wrzosek reportedly only allowed the attorneys representing Birgfellner to be present at the interrogation, refusing Skrzypek the right to have hers there, despite the fact the attorney had asked to be present because of his client’s poor state of health.
The interrogation lasted for five hours and Skrzypek’s attorney on March 16 told reporters that she had been left extremely upset by the procedure.
Speaking at a rally on March 16 in eastern Poland, Kaczyński slammed the Tusk government and blamed it for Skrzypek’s death, calling her the “first fatal victim” of the current wave of investigations against his party members.
“She was a victim of villains who led to her death,” he alleged. “I want to say this clearly: Today, they are trying to defend themselves and intimidate us but we will not be afraid,” he said.
Birgfellner’s attorney Jacek Dubois, who was present at the interrogation, later told reporters that Skrzypek’s interrogation had been “highly civilised and not oppressive in any way”. Therefore, he claimed, there should be no question that it had in any way led to her death.
Wrzosek herself refuted allegations that she had behaved inappropriately and warned that anyone who accused her of causing Skrzypek’s death would be prosecuted.
Poland’s liberal daily Gazeta Wyborcza on March 17 carried a story based on reportedly leaked details of Skrzypek’s testimony. It included allegations that she had incriminated Kaczyński in her testimony as she had not signed documents only she was entitled to sign authorising the setting up of a company to handle the investment project at issue.
The right-wing Confederation party MEP Stanisław Tyszka on March 16 demanded that the Polish parliament’s justice committee should obtain access to records of the interrogation and Skrzypek’s testimony to clarify whether the prosecutor had acted in an appropriate manner.
The list of PiS figures being investigated or who have already been indicted included former prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki, former defence minister Mariusz Błaszczak, ex-justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro and his deputies Marcin Romanowski and Michał Woś, as well as MP Dariusz Matecki.
Romanowski has claimed asylum in Hungary and Matecki has been detained for three months for alleged corruption.
