UPDATE: Poland's central bank board member detained and brought to Pegasus committee meeting

#we have added the stance of Poland's central bank NBP#

"We are carrying out technical activities ordered by the District Court in Warsaw," said the spokeswoman for Police Chief Inspector Katarzyna Nowak, confirming the detention of Pogonowski in a conversation with PAP.

The detention of Piotr Pogonowski was also announced on X platform by Jacek Dobrzynski, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry.

"On Monday, police officers detained the former head of the ABW. He was detained on the basis of a warrant issued by the District Court in Warsaw, 12th Criminal Division, dated November 21, 2024, for his detention and forcible bringing to a meeting of the parliamentary investigative committee," Dobrzynski wrote.

The detention of Pogonowski was also commented on by the minister of the interior and administration Tomasz Siemoniak. "Everyone is equal before the law. Everyone," Siemoniak wrote on X.

Poland's minister of justice, attorney general Adam Bodnar also addressed the case.

"The courts are showing that since the [lower house of Poland's parliament] Sejm has set up a commission of inquiry, it is supposed to act and the persons summoned before it are supposed to appear," Bodnar told TOK FM radio.

He added that if the summoned witnesses "take advantage of the questionable procedures and guarantees that result from the ruling of the Constitutional Court [led by] Julia Przylebska, the courts will not respect this and will act in accordance with the provisions of the law on the commission of inquiry, i.e. make these persons appear before the commissions."

Bodnar elaborated that, according to the law, first there is a procedure of imposing a fine on a witness who has not appeared for a hearing before the commission, and "if this does not work, [the courts - PAP ed.] allow persons to be brought before the commission".

The head of the committee Magdalena Sroka pointed out in an interview with PAP on Monday that this is the first detention in the history of this Sejm and there is no reason to celebrate.

"Witnesses failing to show up for committee meetings undoubtedly makes the committee's work more difficult," she said.

"We will consistently seek, in accordance with the law, to hear each of the witnesses," Sroka stressed.

The hearing is scheduled for December 2 at 10am local time.

Pogonowski failed to appear three times at a meeting of the Pegasus investigation committee, citing a September ruling by the Constitutional Court declaring the committee's work unconstitutional.

After consulting legal experts, the committee concluded that the situation qualified for coercive measures in the form of forcible removal of the witness, with which the Warsaw District Court agreed.

Piotr Pogonowski served as head of Poland's Internal Security Agency ABW from 2016 to 2020. He is currently a member of the management board of Poland's central bank NBP, where he is responsible for the departments of administration, security and controlling.

The commission of inquiry into Pegasus is investigating the legality, regularity and expediency of activities undertaken using the software by, among others, the government, the secret services and the police from November 2015 to November 2023. The commission is also to determine who was responsible for purchasing Pegasus and similar tools for the Polish authorities.

According to Poland's central bank NBP, in line with the Constitutional Court's judgment of September 10, 2024, the parliamentary committee on Pegasus is not functioning legally.

"The management board of Poland's central bank NBP expresses its deep concern over the repeated violation of the principles of the democratic state of law and the independence of the central bank," the central bank wrote in the statement on Monday.

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