Michał Woś appeared before the prosecutor’s office. “I will not faint”

The Public Prosecutor’s Office wants to file a complaint against the former Deputy Minister of Justice for the transfer of PLN 25 million from the Justice Fund to the CBA for the purchase of Pegasus spy software.

Michał Woś stressed at a press conference before the National Prosecutor’s Office that he was being prosecuted and – as he said – they wanted to put him in prison for 10 years because “the Polish state stopped being deaf and blind to criminals, and legal funding was provided to the CBA.”

As you can see, I promise, I won’t faint at the sight of a prosecutor like Mr. Roman Giertych.. If you are looking for someone who is afraid or avoidant, look at Mr. Giertych, 21 deadlines, over 100 subpoenas, only five this year, he finally came forward and filed a motion to dismiss this lawsuit, I will file a similar motion – announced Woś.

In his opinion, the current authorities tell citizens that mass surveillance was taking place in Poland, while – as he recalled – in the years 2017-2022, operational control using Pegasus covered 578 people. Which means about a hundred cases a year, including murderers, pedophiles, thieves and Russian spies. Is this a system of total and mass surveillance? – Woś asked.

The politician announced that will not provide any explanations to the Public Prosecutor’s Office. First of all, I wish to inform the prosecutors that they were ineffectively appointed, so they cannot bring any charges against me and therefore I cannot provide any explanations. – explained the deputy. He added that he would submit a statement on this matter for the record.

The former deputy head of the Ministry of Justice stressed that his decision regarding Pegasus was legal. An application was received from the Central Anti-Corruption Office, which was processed in accordance with the appropriate procedure and funding was granted. Article 43 of the Act regulating the Justice Fund (referring to the Executive Criminal Code – PAP) – each country can consult it – clearly states that the funds from the fund are intended to finance the activity of entities in the public finance sector, such as the CBA, for their statutory tasks, and this was undoubtedly a statutory task related to the detection and prevention of crime. – said Woś.

It also appreciated that the provision of the Law on the Central Anti-Corruption Office, which establishes that this service is financed from the State Budget, does not exclude the possibility of it being financed from a special State fund, such as the Justice Fund. The subsidy and co-financing were completely legal, not only because the law regulating the fund permitted it, but also because they were completely legal because the Central Anti-Corruption Office Law does not prohibit them. – said the politician, recalling that the CBA was co-financed, for example, by Norwegian funds. He added that in this case he denounced the possibility of a crime being committed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which refused to issue a legal opinion in this case.

Michael is already in the morning chat on RMF FM shortly after 8 he assured that he would appear today at the Public Ministry. Finally, the henchmen of the Public Prosecutor’s Office – that’s what I call them – have read the Code of Criminal Procedure and know how to set deadlines correctly. – he said.

They sent me the first call after the deadline, the second one didn’t arrive, they didn’t send it at all. They said publicly that the police were after me. Korneluk (national prosecutor Dariusz Korneluk – editor’s note) came around and said that the police were after me. As a member of the Sejm, I was in Warsaw for a session of the Sejm, and at that time Korneluk sent the police to my house and harassed my wife and family. – Michał Woś said in a morning conversation on RMF FM.

Finally, I got the third call and said I would show up. Of course I’ll show up – declared Tomasz Terlikowski’s guest.

In the case of Woś whose immunity was revoked by the Sejm on June 28 in connection with the investigation the evidence includes, among others: NIK post-audit report, explanations of Tomasz M. (one of the suspects in the investigation), as well as secured documentation from the Ministry of Justice. In the opinion of the PK, this material justifies the suspicion that Woś, who was authorized to manage the fund, “acting with a view to obtaining a financial benefit, together and in consultation with other identified persons (…) failed to fulfill the duties entrusted to him.”

The Prosecutor’s Office stated that when Woś entered into an agreement with the head of the CBA to transfer PLN 25 million from the fund for the purchase of Pegasus, he knew that the CBA “did not meet the conditions to obtain such financial support from this source.” In his opinion, the Law on the Central Anti-Corruption Office indicates that this service is financed from the state budget; in addition, the decisions to purchase Pegasus were made before the entry into force of the regulation in 2017, in which the head of the Ministry of Justice allowed the transfer of funds from the Justice Fund out of competition.

The PK investigation into the Justice Fund, which has been ongoing since February, is multifaceted; it concerns, among other things, the abuse of power and failure to perform their duties by the Minister of Justice and officials of the ministry, who are responsible for the management, distribution and liquidation of the funds of the Justice Fund. The fund is primarily intended to help victims of crime, as well as, among other things, post-prison assistance.

In PK’s opinion, they provided – acting in order to obtain financial and personal benefits – discretionary and arbitrary financial support to beneficiaries of programs unrelated to the objectives of the Justice Fund, thus acting to the detriment of the public interest – the State Treasury and private interest, which resulted in limiting the availability of funds for authorized entities.

So far, more than a dozen people have been charged, three of whom have been arrested.. At the request of the prosecutor’s office, the Sejm lifted the immunity of Wosi and another politician of Sovereign Poland, Marcin Romanowski. Further requests for the consent of the Sejm to hold other politicians criminally liable are also expected.