A Warsaw court has conditionally discontinued criminal proceedings against Przemysław Czarnecki, a member of parliament for the Law and Justice (PiS) party, who had been accused of causing injury to a friend at his home in Wilanów during New Year's Eve celebrations. According to Gazeta, Judge Monika Louklińska of the District Court for Warsaw-Mokotów announced the ruling on Thursday, 22 October, finding that the act was of negligible social harm. The decision satisfied neither the prosecution nor the defence.
Why it matters
The ruling closes — at least at first instance — a case that has followed a sitting MP for nearly seven years, dating back to events on the night of 31 December 2018 into 1 January 2019. It also illustrates a rarely used procedural route: a conditional discontinuation allows proceedings to be halted without a conviction, provided the defendant meets conditions set by the court, and it leaves the accused without a criminal record if those conditions are met.
The outcome diverges from what prosecutors had sought. According to Gazeta, the prosecution had asked for a one-year prison sentence suspended for two years, a fine of 15,000 złoty, a written apology to the injured party, and publication of the verdict. The prosecutor also sought 20,000 złoty in compensation for the victim. Defence lawyers, in their closing arguments, had called for Czarnecki's acquittal. Czarnecki himself has never admitted to harming his friend.
What happened that night
The events began quietly. Czarnecki and his wife welcomed 2019 at their flat in Wilanów, with only one guest: Krzysztof K., a family friend and godfather to their daughter. The couple's daughter was not at home that night; she was staying with her grandparents. According to Gazeta's account, the gathering involved alcohol, but the mood between Czarnecki and his wife was strained. He grew taciturn while his wife spent more time talking and joking with Krzysztof K., and the two went out to the balcony together to smoke.
Czarnecki went to bed before his wife and the guest. He woke around eight in the morning. What happened next depends on who is describing it. His wife's version, as reported by Gazeta, is that Czarnecki walked into the room and found the two sitting close together on a fold-out sofa, looking at something on a phone and laughing. Krzysztof K. was in pyjamas, preparing to sleep. Czarnecki, enraged, told them both to get out, then returned from the kitchen holding knives in both hands and swung them toward his wife and the friend. Krzysztof K. shielded himself with his hands and suffered a serious wound to his left hand.
At 8:14 on Tuesday, 1 January 2019, an emergency operator took a call from Czarnecki's wife. She was agitated and said her husband had wounded a friend with a knife and that blood was flowing. Police and an ambulance were dispatched. In the meantime, Czarnecki himself called the emergency number at 8:23, telling the operator that his wife and the friend were aggressive and would not leave the flat, and that he had locked himself in the toilet out of fear while waiting for officers. While he was on the line, his wife was dressing Krzysztof K.'s wound. The man was bleeding heavily and was taken by ambulance to Czerniakowski Hospital, where he underwent surgery. He spent three days in hospital. His tendons had been cut and, despite the doctors' efforts, his hand did not regain full function.
Conflicting accounts and a missing knife
When officers arrived, Czarnecki was sober and submitted to a breathalyser test at the scene. According to statements he gave during the investigation, quoted by the media and cited by Gazeta, he said he had seen his wife lying on the corner sofa with Krzysztof K., "cuddling," with the man's hand on her breast and her pressed against him. The politician told investigators that although the sight irritated him, he did not attack his friend with a knife, suggesting Krzysztof K. might have cut himself on a broken glass.
No weapon was ever found. Police searched for a bloodstained knife or knives, but the knives in Czarnecki's flat were clean. Twelve knives were secured as evidence in the case. Despite this, prosecutors found the injured party's account more credible than the MP's explanations. Gazeta reports that an expert opinion analysing the evidence supported that assessment.
What to watch
The court's written justification is expected to set out in full why the judges concluded the act carried negligible social harm, a finding that will shape any appeal. Both sides had signalled dissatisfaction with the ruling, and it remains to be seen whether the prosecution challenges the conditional discontinuation.
