Indictment Filed Against PiS MP Antoni Macierewicz Over Insults to Military Counterintelligence Leadership

The Warsaw Regional Prosecutor’s Office filed an indictment against PiS MP Antoni Macierewicz on Thursday for insulting and defaming the leadership of the Military Counterintelligence Service in parliament last year.

Prosecutor Announces Indictment

The filing of the indictment against the PiS MP on Thursday was announced by the spokesperson for the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw, prosecutor Mateusz Martyniuk. Antoni Macierewicz’s statement was made in the Sejm on September 11 of last year during a debate on the information provided by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz regarding the violation of Polish airspace by Russian drones. In the night between September 9 and 10, approximately 20 unmanned aerial vehicles entered Polish airspace, with their wreckage subsequently found in the Lublin, Świętokrzyskie, Masovian, Łódź, and Warmian-Masurian voivodeships.

Sejm Transcript of Remarks

According to the parliamentary transcript, the PiS MP stated at the time: “This was not an accident, it was not an ad-hoc action, this was the beginning of a war. Well, we can win this war, but if the leadership of the Military Counterintelligence Service continues to consist of Russian agents whom Mr. Donald Tusk appointed in 2011 (…)”. This sentence was left unfinished as it provoked a disturbance in the chamber, according to a note in the transcript.

Accusations of Cooperation with Russian Services

Macierewicz added: “They are now heads of the Military Counterintelligence Service again, meaning the formation that has the greatest knowledge about the army and knows the most about what the army carries out.” The transcript records Macierewicz asking: “And these are people who cooperated with Russian special services. How long will you tolerate them? How long will you support them?”. An indictment for Macierewicz followed after the SKW leadership submitted a notification to the prosecutor’s office.

The PiS MP was accused of insulting public officials—the head of the Military Counterintelligence Service, Gen. Jarosław Stróżyk, and his deputies, Col. Krzysztof Dusza and Col. Artur Pluto—by calling them Russian agents. The prosecution also accuses Macierewicz of defaming the SKW leadership by alleging cooperation with Russian special services, which could lower them in public opinion and expose them to the loss of trust necessary to hold their positions, thereby acting to their detriment. The offenses Macierewicz is accused of carry a penalty of a fine, restriction of liberty, or up to one year of imprisonment.

Macierewicz Denies Allegations

During an April meeting of the parliamentary rules committee, which debated the prosecutor’s request to lift his immunity, Macierewicz stated that he was surprised by the prosecutor’s action. He said that the essence of his statement from the perspective being raised was that there were no names mentioned, and that the real issue was the arrangement made for cooperation with Russia. Macierewicz assessed that the prosecutor’s charges were irresponsible and politically motivated. The Sejm lifted Macierewicz’s immunity in this case at the end of April this year.