The motion also asks lawmakers to permit Ziobro’s detention and pretrial arrest in a case concerning the Justice Fund, a state pool intended to help crime victims and support crime prevention.
The filing runs 158 pages, according to prosecutors.
In Poland, members of parliament enjoy legal immunity, which must be lifted before prosecutors can bring charges or seek arrest.
Prosecutors say Ziobro committed 26 crimes when he headed the Ministry of Justice, including creating and directing an organized criminal group and misappropriating more than PLN 150 million (EUR 35.4 million, USD 41.2 million) from the fund.
“The maximum penalty in this case is 25 years in prison,” Anna Adamiak, a spokeswoman for prosecutors, told reporters.
Żurek called the situation “unprecedented on a European scale” during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office.
Waldemar Żurek. Photo: PAP/Paweł Supernak
He said prosecutors cited the risk of tampering with evidence, the severity of the possible sentence, and fears of flight or hiding as grounds for seeking temporary arrest.
He added that the motion reflects “a very high probability of the offense being committed.”
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that it is "the first time in Poland’s history" that a former justice minister is suspected of such crimes, including leading an organized criminal group.
According to prosecutors, Ziobro’s actions were meant to benefit associates and deliver personal and political gains, while harming the state and limiting lawful access to Justice Fund grants.
Investigators say the case file includes witness testimony, suspects’ statements, grant documentation, and digital records gathered by a special team formed last year within the National Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Jarosław Kaczyński, leader of the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, which was in government when Ziobro is alleged to have committed the crimes, rejected the allegations, saying they would imply “a very heavy, long sentence,” but calling the case “nonsense and rubbish” from a legal point of view.
Ziobro served as justice minister and prosecutor general in the PiS government from 2015 to 2023.
(rt/gs)
Source: TVP Info, IAR, PAP