Family appeals decision to discontinue investigation into Skrzypek’s death, which was ruled to be from natural causes.
Appeal Filed Against Discontinuation
“The decision to discontinue the investigation into Barbara Skrzypek’s death is not final. An appeal has been filed on behalf of the injured parties [family members] and has been referred to the District Court for Warsaw-Mokotowa,” Gazeta.pl was informed by Prosecutor Karolina Staros from the Warsaw-Praga Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
Prosecutor’s Office: Heart Attack Cause of Death
The investigation was discontinued in early December. “An extensive evidentiary material has been collected, including witness testimonies, expert opinions from forensic medicine and toxicology, surveillance footage and its examination, telecommunication data and its analysis,” the prosecutor’s office stated at the time.
It was emphasized that “Barbara Skrzypek died of a heart attack, which most likely occurred within a few hours before her death, that is, three days after the interrogation.” “It was caused by changes in the cardiovascular system, i.e., very advanced atherosclerosis. The stress related to participating in the interrogation did not cause the heart attack,” the report reads.
Interrogation Conducted With Standards
Barbara Skrzypek died on March 15 of last year at the age of 66. Three days before her death, she was interrogated as a witness in an investigation into the unbuilt construction of two towers on a plot belonging to the Srebrna company.
“The interrogation of Mrs. Barbara Skrzypek was conducted with all high procedural standards observed,” Prosecutor Ewa Wrzosek wrote on X on Saturday. “The interrogation took place in a very cultured atmosphere, none of the participants made any comments, objections or requests for correction of the protocol to the record,” the Warsaw Regional Prosecutor’s Office reported in turn.
Before retiring, Barbara Skrzypek held positions including head of the chancellery and director of the presidential office of PiS.
Kaczyński on Skrzypek’s Reaction
“Barbara was summoned for interrogation by Ms. Wrzosek. She was very affected by this interrogation. A lawyer was not allowed to attend this interrogation, but there were no grounds to prohibit it. This was exploited. The role of Ms. Wrzosek in this interrogation was important and tragic,” said PiS President Jarosław Kaczyński in March on TV Republika.
“I recently spoke with her on the phone after she left the interrogation. She told me she was going home, the counsel who was with her but who was not admitted to the interrogation was driving her, and that she felt so bad that we would only talk on Monday,” he recounted on television in Poland24.