Hungarian authorities refuse to disclose details of asylum granted to Polish politician Zbigniew Ziobro and his wife, citing strict data protection laws.
Hungarian Authorities: We Will Not Disclose Information
In an email sent to the Hungarian Ministry of the Interior, inquirers asked under what circumstances the asylum application was submitted and how the decision to grant asylum to Zbigniew Ziobro and Patrycja Kotecka-Ziobro was justified. The response was provided by the National Directorate General for the Police for Foreigners, subordinate to the MSW.
The authorities stated, “We inform you that due to strict personal data protection regulations governing asylum procedures, we will not disclose any information regarding any asylum applications submitted by specific individuals or their processing.”
The Hungarians’ response is not surprising, as other countries granting political asylum are also reluctant or completely unwilling to inform about such cases externally.
Asylum for Zbigniew Ziobro and Patrycja Kotecka-Ziobro
A few days ago, Hungarian journalist Szabolcs Panyi from the VSquare portal revealed that in December, the Hungarian EU delegation sent a letter to all other EU member state delegations in Brussels informing them that asylum had been granted to two Polish citizens. However, no names were provided.
The office of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the local Ministry of Justice did not respond to the journalist’s questions at the time. However, Zbigniew Ziobro himself later confirmed the information about obtaining asylum, noting that the decision was made on December 22.
Zbigniew Ziobro and the Justice Fund Case
In November, the Sejm (Polish parliament) approved the arrest of Ziobro, and the prosecutor’s office then filed an arrest warrant for the politician. The case concerns an investigation into the spending of money from the Justice Fund.
According to investigators, Ziobro, as Minister of Justice, committed 26 crimes. According to the prosecutor’s office, the politician from PiS (Law and Justice party) was, among other things, leading a criminal group. Ziobro disagrees with the charges, calling them “invented.”
The hearing at the Regional Court in Warsaw-Mokotów regarding the possible application of temporary detention against Zbigniew Ziobro is scheduled for February 5.