Continued changes in the prosecutor’s office. Jacek Bilewicz dismissed 5 regional heads

On Wednesday, January 31, the spokesman for the National Prosecutor’s Office, Prosecutor Przemysław Nowak, posted a message on the PK website regarding reshuffles in the prosecutor’s office. From this information we learn that the First Deputy Prosecutor General, acting National Prosecutor, Jacek Bilewicz, continuing changes in managerial positions in prosecutor’s offices, decided to dismiss five prosecutors from their positions.

Canceled:

• Tomasz Pietreczek – from the position of Regional Prosecutor in Katowice

• Marek Woźniak – from the position of Regional Prosecutor in Krakow

• Jarosław Szubert – from the position of Regional Prosecutor in Łódź

• Jacek Motawski – from the position of Regional Prosecutor in Poznań

• Jerzy Dybus – from the position of Regional Prosecutor in Rzeszów

Dispute over the legality of changes in the prosecutor’s office

“The Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw has initiated an investigation into the abuse of powers by public officials, including the Minister of Justice – Prosecutor General,” the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw said on January 23 in a message sent to Wirtualna Polska.

The investigation was initiated following a notification from the deputies of the Prosecutor General. They were signed by: Michał Ostrowski, Beata Marczak, Krzysztof Sierak, Robert Hernand, Krzysztof Urbaniak, Tomasz Janeczek and Andrzej Pozorski.

Importantly, the services are not involved in the investigation. As Aleksandra Skrzyniarz, spokeswoman for the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw, informed Wirtualna Polska in a statement, it is “the prosecutor’s own investigation”.

The abuse of powers covered by the investigation is justified by taking “unlawful actions aimed at dismissing Dariusz Barski from the position of National Prosecutor.” According to the notifying parties, it was an “act to the detriment of public and private interests”, as evidenced by the “obtained materials”.