Polish ruling party MP stripped of immunity and detained at request of EU prosecutors
Wojciech Król is accused of involvement in corruption relating to the spending of EU funds in Poland.
A Polish MP from Prime Minister Donald Tusk's centrist Civic Coalition party has been detained by EU prosecutors at the request of the anti-corruption office. This marks the first time in history that the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) has taken action against a sitting Polish member of parliament. Wojciech Król, the MP in question, is accused of accepting financial benefits and inflating costs in exchange for favorable outcomes on a EU-funded tram infrastructure project in the Upper Silesian-Zagłębie Metropolis, a region including the city of Katowice.
The EPPO found evidence of a systemic corruption involving inflated costs and fictitious work, for which 1.9 billion zloty (€435 million) of EU funds were allocated. Król, who was deputy head of his party's caucus in the Sejm, denied the accusations and has been suspended from the caucus. Despite being rejected initially, the Sejm almost unanimously approved lifting Król's immunity and detaining him in late July.
The EU prosecutors seek to prevent Król from obstructing the proceedings against him, citing his failure to comply with previous preventative measures imposed on him.
Written by urgent.news from Notes from Poland's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
