By Alan Charlish
WARSAW, Jan 12 (Reuters) – Zbigniew Ziobro, a former Polish justice minister who has been granted asylum in Hungary, is no stranger to conflict, regularly unleashing tirades against “losers” and “softies” who oppose his judicial reform or EU approach.
However, the tough-talking, gun-toting nationalist has watched the latest battle in his turbulent career from afar, choosing not to return to Poland to face 26 charges of abuse of power and leading a criminal group.
Giobro, 55, says he is the victim of a witch hunt by Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s pro-EU government, which has vowed to bring justice to members of the right-wing former Law and Justice (PiS) administration accused of wrongdoing.
The former minister, who denies any wrongdoing, has been preparing for the showdown since PiS lost power in 2023.
Then, in an angry address to parliament, he lashed out at his opponents in a previous failed attempt to impeach him for overstepping his authority during his first term as justice minister in 2005-2007.
“I’m counting on you,” he cried, addressing the benches of Tusk’s Civic Coalition (KO). “I hope you don’t end up like a loser during the State Tribunal!”
Allegations of misappropriation of funds
Prosecutors said that Ziobro and several of his representatives embezzled millions of zlotys from a fund meant for crime victims.
They say the cash went to buy Pegasus spyware that was used against political opponents or to buy everything from fire engines to equipment for country housewives associations to woo rural voters.
Ziobro does not deny that money from the fund went to Pegasus, but says that this and all other expenses are in Poland’s national interest. He accused the KO government of seeking revenge because he had investigated suspected corruption among Tusk’s aides.
“The Sheriff”
Ziobro studied law at the prestigious Jagiellonian University in his native Krakow. He joined PiS at its founding in 2001 and rose to prominence during an investigation into bribery allegations involving the then centre-left government.
His no-nonsense approach to meetings of the commission formed in 2003 to investigate the allegations earned him the nickname “The Sheriff.”
In 2006 the event that many political observers say had the biggest impact on him happened.
Giobro’s father, Jerzy, died after heart surgery and his family blamed the doctors involved. Now Poland’s justice minister, he directly attacked surgeon Miroslav Garlicki, telling reporters: “This man will never deprive anyone of life again.”
Garlicki filed a lawsuit against Giobro and the minister was forced by the court to issue a public apology.
Critics said Ziobro sought to influence the investigation into his father’s death, and his anger with judges who failed to hold Garlicki accountable fueled his confrontational approach to a profession he considered an “exceptional race.”
Judicial reform
The judicial reforms he spearheaded when he returned as justice minister in 2015 were at the center of a clash between Warsaw and Brussels over democratic standards that led to the freeze of billions of euros in EU funding.
Critics said the changes politicized the process of appointing and disciplining judges.
Ziobro also combined the roles of prosecutor general and justice minister, a move critics said compromised prosecutors’ independence. The PIS said that the reforms have eliminated communist influence in the judicial system and improved efficiency.
The clash with the EU caused friction within the government, particularly between Ziobro and then-Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who favored a more conciliatory approach to Brussels.
“In negotiations you can’t be soft, you have to be tough,” Giobro said in 2020.
His decision to seek asylum in Hungary from the right-wing government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán – another long-time critic of the EU – prompted Tomasz Simoniak, a senior minister in Tusk’s administration, to call Ziobro a “coward” fleeing justice in Poland.
Cancer diagnosis
On the day the new parliament was sworn in in 2023, Giobro was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer.
While a parliamentary commission in Warsaw investigated his role in alleged wrongdoing related to the Pegasus spyware, Giobro underwent multiple surgeries and chemotherapy in Belgium.
PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski said jailing a person in Ziobro’s situation would be “equivalent to a death sentence”.
But Giobro himself remained generally belligerent.
“For using brutal and illegal methods, members of Donald Tusk’s regime currently ruling Poland will face serious consequences,” he said in a post on X on Monday. “I will personally contribute to this fight.”
(Reporting by Alan Charlish Editing by Gareth Jones)
