Waldemar Żurek, the Polish justice minister in Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s centre-left coalition government, has been accused of having co-operated with Pavel Rubtsov, a Russian spy who posed as Spanish journalist Pablo Gonzales.
Opposition Conservative (PiS) MPs have submitted parliamentary questions on the matter. Former PiS deputy justice minister Marcin Romanowski, who now lives in Hungary where he has been granted asylum by the Orbán government following accusations of abuses of power, has also submitted a request to the public prosecution service to examine the nature of the alleged contacts between the justice minister and GRU operative Rubtsov.
Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) is the foreign military intelligence agency of the Russian General Staff, involved in collecting military intelligence and conducting covert operations, sabotage and cyber warfare globally.
Żurek is being asked to explain his interviews in 2016 given to commercial radio Tok FM, just months after the election of the last PiS government. In one, the then-judge and member of the National Council for the Judiciary (KRS) admitted he had “received a call from Spain from an important journalist” about judicial reforms being implemented by the PiS.
Shortly after that radio interview an article appeared on the Spanish (Basque) portal naiz.eus about “Polish democracy in trouble” by journalist Gonzales, who was a few years later arrested in Poland for being a Russian spy.
Gonzales’ real name was Pavel Rubstsov and he was arrested shortly before the full scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
He was released to the Russians in 2024 as part of a prisoner exchange between the Kremlin and the US. Together with several others released from captivity in the west, he was greeted at Moscow airport by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Rubtsov had been indicted and arrested in Poland for using his status as a journalist to collect intelligence in Ukraine for Russian special services.
He did not stand trial before being handed over to the Russians. It was revealed that, while in detention, Rubtsov had access to files the Polish services had used in charging him, a discretionary concession that was criticised when it became public knowledge.
In Poland, he had built close relationships with journalists, including his partner, who was also indicted but cannot be named under Poland’s privacy laws.
As a journalist she moved freely in pro-liberal and pro-leftist political circles and had worked for Euronews, The Guardian and French State television.
According to sources revealed by Conservative portal NIezależna.pl, Rubtsov’s confiscated mobile phone contained the contact details of Żurek, as well as correspondence exchanged between them via messaging apps.
PiS MP Paweł Jabłoński has asked the justice minister to confirm that he had been in contact with Rubtsov and to reveal in full the nature of those contacts.
He added: “It is necessary to establish beyond any doubt that the justice minister has not maintained contact with Rubtsov since the de-masking of the Russian and his arrest and handover to Moscow.”
Marcin Romanowski, another PiS MP and deputy justice minister in the last PiS government, went one step further and submitted to the public prosecutors notification of a possible crime having been committed by Żurek. That was of him allegedly aiding and abetting an individual working for the intelligence services of a hostile country.
Such a crime, if proven, carries a minimum prison sentence of eight years and a maximum of 30 years.
Romanowski pointed to Rubtsov’s activity as a journalist producing output that was “always consistent with Moscow or Belarusian narratives and reminded how Rubtsov had been a prominent critic of the PiS government’s allegedly inhumane handling of the migration crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border”.
Romanowski left Poland when his parliamentary immunity was lifted and parliament agreed he should be arrested.
The justice minister posted on X today: “I see that they are scared and throwing mud around. They say I had contacts with someone called Rubtsov. No such luck guys. All your misdeeds will be revealed.”
Żurek then attacked Zbigniew Ziobro, another justice minister in the last PiS government who has just been indicted on 26 charges. Parliament lifted his immunity allowing his arrest, for allegedly having been backed by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
“It’s Ziobro who is shaking Orbán’s hand, Putin’s closest associate in Europe. Judge for yourselves. We’re just going to get on with doing our job,” said Żurek.
Żurek was appointed justice minister in July and since coming to office has instigated a series of indictments against former PiS politicians.
He has ended the practice of judges being assigned to cases at random and introduced draft legislation that would see hundreds of judges appointed under the last PiS administration demoted.
