The men, identified as 39-year-old Aleksander B. and 35-year-old Rafał G., handed themselves in to local police on Wednesday evening. Both were intoxicated, with blood alcohol levels above 2‰, and blood samples were taken to test for drugs.
The attack took place outside a restaurant in Siedlce in the afternoon, as Niedzielski, accompanied by friends, was leaving the premises. Police said the men struck him in the face and kicked him before fleeing.
“The suspects will be questioned once they have sobered up,” Siedlce police officer Barbara Jastrzębska told Polish state news agency PAP on Thursday. Prosecutors are continuing to gather evidence, including CCTV footage from the restaurant.
Adam Niedzielski, who served as health minister from 2020 to 2023 in the right-wing government of Mateusz Morawiecki (PiS), was taken to the local provincial hospital. He later wrote on social media that the attackers shouted “death to traitors of the homeland” and that the assault lasted only seconds.
The former health minister said he suffered bruises but no internal injuries.
Under Polish law, participating in a fight or assault that endangers a person’s life or health carries a sentence of three months to five years in prison.
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Source: X/@Prok_Okreg_SIE/PR24/PAP