A court in Warsaw has issued a European Arrest Warrant for an opposition Conservatives (PiS) MP.
Marcin Romanowski has been indicted for alleged misuse of public funds in his capacity as deputy justice minister.
In December 2025, the same court revoked the European Arrest Warrant originally issued in 2024 after Romanowski’s parliamentary immunity was lifted and a decision had been taken by prosecutors to seek pre-trial detention.
The Tusk government has been accused of misusing pre-trial detention and of conducting an orchestrated media campaign of vilification against former PiS government officials as a means of repressing the political opposition.
Romanowski had left Poland for Hungary ahead of the 2024 ruling and was later that year granted asylum by the Hungarian authorities.
Judge Dariusz Łubowski revoked the European warrant on the grounds that the government had created an atmosphere around the case that made getting a fair trial difficult and that Romanowski was already under the protection of Hungary.
But on February 17, the same court in Warsaw granted the request by the government-controlled prosecution service to issue the European arrest warrant.
Romanowski responded to the court’s decision on social media by criticising the government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
“The organised criminal group of Tusk and Żurek [justice minister] in the prosecutor’s office and at the Regional Court in Warsaw continues its criminal activity,” he wrote.
“Of course, there will be a notification of suspected crime: A renewed European Arrest Warrant based on the same evidence and circumstances, in the reality of open political repression and manipulation of the adjudicating panel.”
Romanowski was referring to the fact that the justice minister had protested the court’s decision to revoke the arrest warrant against him and had demanded that the judge who issued it – who had described the actions of the government as “crypto-dicatorship” – be removed from the bench.
According to Bartosz Lewandowski, one of Romanowski’s attorneys, the previous judge was removed from the case and the random assignment of judges was abandoned so that the duty judge who might normally replace him could not adjudicate on the case.
In January, independent conservative broadcaster TV Republika reported that the judge appointed to hear the case in February was linked to Iustitia, an association of judges active in opposition to the judicial reforms introduced by the last PiS government.
Prosecutors allege that Romanowski took part in an “organised criminal group” that misused around €35 million from the Justice Fund, a state programme overseen by the justice ministry intended to support victims of crime and crime prevention.
They say the money was instead channelled into projects linked to political allies of the former justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro and used to purchase controversial Israeli Pegasus spyware, later allegedly deployed to monitor PiS’ political rivals.
Ziobro has been indicted for similar offences and has also left Poland for Hungary where he has been granted asylum on the same grounds as Romanowski.
Both Romanowski and Ziobro have denied the charges filed against them, arguing that they followed the legal procedures governing the Justice Fund to the letter. They claim the purchase of the spyware was fully justified since it was used to investigate suspected crimes and not any specific individuals.
Several former PiS government officials have been indicted by Tusk government prosecutors after that administration made pursuing alleged abuse of power by its predecessor a political priority.
One of those being indicted is former prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki. He has been accused of exceeding his powers with regard to the preparations of a postal ballot in the 2020 presidential election that took place during the Covid pandemic.
Although European institutions have remained silent on Tusk’s actions, which he claims are necessary to restore the rule of law in his country, they have in the past criticised Poland’s authorities for excessive use of pre-trial detention, which has allegedly been used to force confessions.
