Former Polish Prime Minister Morawiecki charged with abuse of power

Former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki was charged on February 27 with abuse of power and dereliction of duty in the organization of the 2020 postal vote.

According to RMF24, on Thursday Morawiecki arrived at the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw, where he was charged.

In the spring of 2020, Morawiecki, as prime minister, ordered preparations for the presidential election to be held entirely by postal ballot due to the coronavirus pandemic. Eventually, Poland’s National Election Commission announced that the elections scheduled for May 10, 2020, could not take place.

The former prime minister’s decisions allegedly caused losses of 70 million zlotys. Morawiecki himself claims that he is not guilty and that he acted in favor of Poland.

According to Piotr Skiba, a spokesman for the Warsaw Voivodeship Prosecutor’s Office, Morawiecki was charged with abuse of power and dereliction of duty during the organization of the 2020 elections.

“The suspect was in the presence of two lawyers… He pleaded not guilty to the alleged offense. He filed a request to get acquainted with the evidence in this case and expressed his readiness to respond to the charges after receiving the substantiation of these charges and after familiarizing himself with the materials of this proceeding,” Skiba told reporters.

As he left the prosecutor’s office, Morawiecki stated he would testify when he had studied the case files.

In January, Morawiecki renounced his parliamentary immunity.

Earlier, Polish prosecutor’s office demanded the consent of the Polish Sejm to prosecute Morawiecki.