Beata Szydło and Mateusz Morawiecki have been summoned to the prosecutor’s office in an investigation concerning the Polish National Foundation (PFN), Onet reported on Monday, 19 October. The prosecutor’s office had not confirmed this information at the time of publication.
What is known about the summonses
As Onet reports, the summonses concern proceedings regarding the Polish National Foundation, specifically the people responsible for the PiS campaign. The portal did not give hearing dates in the available excerpt. The Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Rzeszów, which is conducting the investigation, has not issued a statement on the matter.
The 'Fair Courts' investigation
The proceedings concern the 2017 media campaign “Fair Courts” (Sprawiedliwe Sądy), financed by PFN. Prosecutors are examining suspected abuse of powers and failure to perform duties by members of the foundation’s management board. According to investigators, the way the campaign was financed may have caused PFN property damage of at least PLN 8.4 million.
In September, Anna P. and Piotr M., former board members of the company Solvere, were charged with causing large-scale property damage to the foundation. They pleaded not guilty. On Friday, 16 October, the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Rzeszów announced the seizure of their assets worth over PLN 4.6 million. This included, among other things, real estate, funds in bank accounts and Anna P.’s earnings from her work at the President’s Chancellery.
Szydło previously summoned
Szydło had already been summoned as a witness in this investigation before. As the prosecutor’s office stated, she failed to appear on dates set between May and July, so the prosecutor imposed a disciplinary fine of PLN 3,000, the maximum amount. The decision was not final. At this point there is no information that any of the politicians named in this article have been charged in this case.
What this means
A summons to the prosecutor’s office does not mean charges. A person’s status (witness or suspect) determines their rights and obligations, and a witness is obliged to appear when summoned; failure to do so may result in a disciplinary fine. At the time of publication, we did not know the positions of Szydło or Morawiecki.
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