Prosecutors Deny Request to Remove Official from Two Towers Case

The Warsaw District Prosecutor’s Office has rejected a motion filed by Roman Giertych, counsel for Austrian businessman Gerald Birgfellner, seeking to exclude prosecutor Małgorzata Szeroczyńska from the ongoing “Two Towers” investigation.

The Rejection of the Exclusion Motion

The Warsaw District Prosecutor’s Office announced on Monday that the District Prosecutor refused to grant the request submitted by Roman Giertych, who represents Austrian entrepreneur Gerald Birgfellner. The motion had sought the removal of prosecutor Małgorzata Szeroczyńska from the case involving the planned construction of two skyscrapers on a property owned by the Srebrna company, which is linked to the Law and Justice (PiS) party.

Legal Dispute Over the Srebrna Investigation

The investigation began in February of last year and concerns allegations that Gerald Birgfellner was misled into making an unfavorable financial disposition of high-value assets. Last Wednesday, PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński testified as a witness in the case for nine hours. Following the hearing, the prosecutor’s spokesperson, Piotr Antoni Skiba, stated that Kaczyński’s team had requested that Giertych be barred from the proceedings; that request was denied by prosecutor Szeroczyńska.

Giertych subsequently filed a motion to remove Szeroczyńska from the case, claiming she had dismissed over 80 percent of his questions during the hearing. He described the prosecutor’s conduct as unprecedented and argued that it denied his client the right to effective legal representation. He also suggested that the prosecutor’s actions were influenced by a previous, unrelated legal encounter where a court had criticized her procedural decisions.

Historical Context and Previous Legal Challenges

In 2019, under the administration of Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro, the Warsaw District Prosecutor’s Office refused to initiate an investigation into the Srebrna development plans, citing a lack of documented costs and written agreements. That decision was later upheld by the Warsaw District Court in 2020. However, the case was revisited during an audit of proceedings from the 2016–2023 period, and prosecutors determined that the investigation should be resumed.

Kaczyński has dismissed the allegations as politically motivated, labeling the current investigation as part of a campaign against his party. He has also questioned the legitimacy of the current prosecution office. The case remains a focal point of ongoing legal scrutiny, following the 2019 publication by Gazeta Wyborcza of recordings involving the PiS leader and Birgfellner regarding the tower project.