A 43-year-old Polish citizen suspected of murdering a pregnant woman in Germany was detained in Szczecin on Thursday, 23 October. He was wanted on the basis of a European Arrest Warrant.
As the police said in a statement, the murder took place on 20 October in Germany. On Thursday morning, officers of the Pursuit Operations Department of the CBŚP received information about the crime via the International Police Cooperation Bureau of the National Police Headquarters (KGP). According to the information provided, the suspect is a 43-year-old Polish citizen, Marek R.
How the arrest happened
A European Arrest Warrant had been issued for the man. Polish services considered it important that he might be heading towards Poland. The police said that, given the nature of the alleged offence and the potential threat to public safety, immediate action was necessary.
The „Shadow Hunters” of the CBŚP, together with police officers from the Voivodship Police Headquarters in Szczecin, established the whereabouts of the wanted man in Szczecin. The arrest took place shortly after 12 noon on one of the city’s streets. The statement highlights the rapid exchange of information with the German side and the cooperation between the CBŚP, the Voivodship Police Headquarters in Szczecin and the KGP’s International Police Cooperation Bureau.
What happens next
According to the police, procedural actions related to the execution of the European Arrest Warrant are to be carried out with the detainee on Friday. The EAW is a mechanism under which a court in the executing country decides whether to surrender a person to the authorities of the country that issued it. Therefore, it will be a Polish court that decides on the surrender to Germany.
The statement does not say in which part of Germany the crime occurred, who the victim was, what circumstances German investigators have established, or what charges the man faces. It is also unknown how he has responded to the suspicions. As of publication, we had not seen a statement from the German prosecutor’s office. At this stage, the man is a suspect and the presumption of innocence applies.
