In a 240-to-192 vote with seven abstentions on Friday, the Sejm decided to strip Woś of his parliamentary immunity, surpassing the required 231 votes. Woś is a member of the Law and Justice (PiS) party that was in power between 2015 and 2023.
The national prosecutor had submitted the motion to the Sejm and requested permission to hold Woś criminally liable in connection with an investigation into the Central Anticorruption Bureau’s (CBA) purchase of Pegasus software with funds from the Justice Fund.
The former government, led by the socially conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, purchased the Pegasus phone-hacking system from the Israeli firm NSO Group.
Pegasus was used to spy on opposition members and government critics, according to reports by Citizen Lab, Apple, and Amnesty International.
Investigations revealed that the Justice Fund, a reserve intended to help victims of crime, was used to buy Pegasus.
Woś was deputy head of the Ministry of Justice in the United Right government in 2017–2018. He was authorized by then-Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobra to act as disposer of the Justice Fund.
In September 2017, Woś submitted a request to the Ministry of Finance to amend the financial plan of the Justice Fund—the amount in question was 25 million złoty, which went to the CBA and was used to purchase the Pegasus system, according to the charges against him.
At a press conference in May, Justice Minister Adam Bodnar accused Woś of abusing his public office, betraying trust, and causing significant financial damage.
Woś defended himself in the Sejm on Thursday, claiming all his actions were legal and asserting that he would again co-finance the surveillance system to ensure that criminals, pedophiles, killers, and those involved in organized crime could be prosecuted by the Polish state.
Polish PM Donald Tusk commented on the matter, saying “I would like those who stole from Poland, those who violated the rule of law, not only to stand trial, but to be effectively and efficiently convicted on the basis of strong evidence.”
Jarosław Kaczyński, leader of PiS, stated “this is political repression and an attempt to change the system by force”.
“This is all one big fraud. I hope that those who perpetrated it, headed by Donald Tusk, will find themselves in the dock,” he added.
A spokesperson for the Prosecutor General's Office clarified their position.
“A positive decision by the [lower house of parliament] on the waiver of Michał Woś’s immunity will result in the prosecutor setting a date for presenting him with a charge and questioning him as a suspect,” Prosecutor General’s spokesperson Prosecutor Anna Adamiak told the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
The investigation into the disbursement of funds from the Justice Fund is being conducted by the National Prosecutor’s Office, which has so far brought charges against ten people, three of whom have been taken into custody.
The suspects include a Justice Fund beneficiary, as well as former and current Justice Ministry officials who dealt with the fund.
