⁍ Polish prosecutors said on Saturday they had brought fraud charges against a prominent lawyer and former deputy prime minister.
⁍ Prosecutors also denied mistreating Roman Giertych, who fainted during his detention on Thursday.
⁍ Giertych’s lawyer said the charges were misplaced and that he would challenge them.
– A prominent Polish lawyer who fainted in police custody on Thursday has been charged with fraud and has been barred from leaving the country, the BBC reports. Roman Giertych, a former deputy prime minister who is a vocal critic of the ruling Law and Justice Party, was taken into custody Thursday and accused of taking part in a $23 million money-laundering scheme. According to Reuters, Giertych fainted while in police custody and was taken to a hospital. He was charged with fraud and has been banned from practicing law. Prosecutors say his “health condition … resulted from unauthorized interference by the CBA officers.” Giertych was arrested while defending bank owner Leszek Czarnecki, a ” thorn in the government’s side,” who is suspected of cheating clients of his Idea Bank. Giertych was also a lawyer for Donald Tusk, then European Council chairman, when he testified in an investigation into former heads of military counter-intelligence suspected of cooperating with foreign intelligence services without permission while Tusk was prime minister. Giertych was also leader of the far-right League of Polish Families while it was briefly in government with the PiS.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-poland-arrests-lawyer/prominent-polish-lawyer-and-critic-of-government-charged-with-fraud-idUSKBN2720ML