Exaudi has been following Father Olszewski’s trial for some time. Here are the articles published so far:

Poland: priest arrested for political revenge

Polish Episcopate: We call on state authorities to stop the degradation of social life

“Free Father Olszewski!”

The trial concerning the Justice Fund, which involves Father Michał Olszewski among others, began on January 21 amid widespread controversy. Issues affect both the investigative phase—which involved unlawful actions by the prosecution—and the judicial proceedings themselves. Months of prolonged pretrial detention for the suspects, inhumane treatment during custody, and ultimately the inappropriate and biased composition of the court: all of this shapes the context of a trial expected to culminate in the so-called “settling of scores” carried out by the governing coalition led by Donald Tusk against politicians from the previous conservative government.

Deputy Marcin Romanowski, former deputy justice minister and also accused in the Justice Fund affair, openly speaks of “crypto-dictatorship methods” and “an avalanche of blatant procedural violations” in the trial. Romanowski adds: “The entire group of prosecutors and judges readily agreed to serve as instruments of political repression against the opposition.” There is a serious risk that the trial will turn into a show trial—like those during the communist era—to justify attacks on conservative and Catholic politicians and circles.

It should be recalled that Father Michał Olszewski, president of the Profeto Foundation, was arrested at the end of March 2024 in connection with alleged irregularities in obtaining funds from the Justice Fund granted by the Ministry of Justice for building a center to assist crime victims. According to investigators, Ministry of Justice officials who decided to allocate these funds acted in concert with the foundation’s president. In relation to this case, Urszula Dubejko (former director of the Justice Fund Department at the Ministry of Justice) and Karolina Kucharska (her deputy) were also arrested. The prosecution accused the three detainees of acting together to support the Profeto Foundation with public funds that—and this is rarely mentioned—were not embezzled but spent on constructing the nearly completed buildings of the center, which now stand abandoned because authorities have blocked the foundation’s activities. But the most absurd accusation against the ministry officials is that they acted as an organized criminal group—as if performing official state duties constituted criminal activity!

The treatment of those arrested was so scandalous that public outrage forced even the government commissioner for human rights, Marcin Wiącek, to act. On December 23, 2024, he issued two statements: one regarding Father Michał Olszewski and another concerning Karolina Kucharska and Urszula Dubejko. The commissioner confirmed that in Father Olszewski’s case there were “inhumane treatment and other violations of rights and freedoms.” In the case of the officials, “numerous violations” of human rights were noted. Holding people without trial for seven months in what authorities called “exploratory” detention served a specific purpose: to extract compromising statements from the detainees in order to target the true objects of this entire political-media operation—the former justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, and his deputy Marcin Romanowski.

In court are individuals who endured months of brutal detention, psychological pressure, and humiliation. Father Olszewski’s health in particular suffered serious damage; he is now under treatment and struggling to regain balance. In a normal country, people so severely affected would be given time to recover. Instead, the trial has started, and concern is growing that this is not about justice but a political spectacle. Proof of this is that Prime Minister Donald Tusk has already publicly issued his verdict, and pro-government media like TVN already know the defendants are guilty. Now all that is needed is a “trusted” court to deliver the “correct” verdict.

The trial was assigned to Judge Justyna Koska-Janusz, who previously clashed with then-Minister Ziobro. He commented on her selection: “I revoked her delegation from the District Court to the Regional Court; she lost prestige and money, and clashed with me in media and judicial disputes over it,” adding ironically: “This is the best guarantee of ‘impartiality’ in the judgment. When a verdict must go against the evidence, when the law must be trampled and justice is just a facade, we need exactly this kind of judge. That’s why Koska-Janusz is presiding. And that’s it. Is this the rule of law? No, it’s the rule of revenge.”

Just before the first hearing, a grave incident occurred: the two lay judges were illegally replaced. A year earlier, in accordance with the law, lay judges were selected by lottery. Instead, new ones were appointed in clear violation of the law, which requires lottery selection. This happened one day before the trial started—so the new lay judges had only one day to review over 200,000 pages of case files. An impossible task, but unprepared judges with no knowledge of the files are generally easier to “manage.” In this way, the right to defense and the right to a fair trial were gravely violated.

Defense attorneys filed a series of motions. First, the removal of Judge Koska-Janusz from the case due to her obvious bias. Another motion sought suspension of the trial until completion of a thorough prosecutorial investigation into the Justice Fund, in which former minister Ziobro and former deputy Romanowski are suspects (both have found political asylum in Hungary). A third motion concerns excluding the improperly appointed lay judges.

Defense attorney Michał Skwarzyński stated that by rejecting the defense’s motions, the court revealed its own bias. He reiterated that the case is political in nature and aimed at attacking former Minister Ziobro.

Source: La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana