Kaczyński questioned for nine hours in Warsaw 'two towers' probe, calls prosecutor 'illegal'

The hearing

Jarosław Kaczyński, leader of the Law and Justice (PiS) party, was questioned as a witness for approximately nine hours on Wednesday at the Warsaw Regional Prosecutor's Office. The session began at 10:00 and concluded around 19:00. The investigation concerns the so-called 'two towers' project, a failed plan to build two high-rises on a plot owned by the PiS-linked company Srebrna in Warsaw.

Prosecutor spokesman Piotr Antoni Skiba described the atmosphere as 'good,' though he acknowledged 'some friction, as in a good courtroom drama, which had no major impact on the further course of the hearing.' The witness answered all questions and never exercised his right to refuse a response. The final protocol runs to 40 pages.

The witness made a statement that he considers the questioning prosecutor 'an illegal person,' although he agrees to the hearing, as this protocol will be evidence in the further fight to restore the rule of law.

The 'two towers' case

The investigation was launched by the Warsaw regional prosecutor's office in February last year. It centers on allegations that Austrian businessman Gerald Birgfellner was misled into an unfavorable disposal of high-value assets. Birgfellner was engaged by Kaczyński in 2016 to execute the Srebrna project. The construction was abandoned in 2018, and when Birgfellner demanded payment of costs he estimated at €1.3 million, Kaczyński refused.

An earlier complaint by Birgfellner's lawyers was dismissed in 2019, when Zbigniew Ziobro served as justice minister and prosecutor general. The case was reopened under the current administration.

The lawyers' reactions

Jacek Dubois, representing Birgfellner, told reporters he did not believe most of the witness's statements. 'I hope the prosecutor reaches the same conclusions and it ends with charges being filed,' he said. Dubois described Kaczyński's answers as not extensive and claimed he tried to steer the conversation toward other topics.

We waited, as I counted, seven and a half years. Today we were able to talk with Mr. Jarosław Kaczyński for eight hours.

Dubois expressed satisfaction that the hearing took place at all, calling it the end of a 'seven-and-a-half-year escape from the prosecutor's office.' He predicted the case would now move to a substantive decision phase and possibly to formal charges.

Giertych walks out

Co-counsel Roman Giertych left the hearing after about four hours. Prosecutor Skiba suggested this was due to 'dissatisfaction with the investigating prosecutor's striking of questions that were either already covered or inadmissible.' Giertych later complained on social media that the prosecutor struck roughly 80 percent of his questions and said he would file a motion to have her removed from the case and seek a fresh hearing for Kaczyński.

At the start of the session, Kaczyński and his two defense lawyers moved to exclude Giertych from the proceedings. The presiding prosecutor denied the motion.

What comes next

Prosecutor Skiba stated that no further procedural steps are planned in the case at this moment. He cautioned that it is too early to say whether the witness will face charges. Dubois, however, said he is 'deeply convinced that the result of this hearing will be a transition to the stage of charges.'