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🇵🇱 Poland /Crime & Justice

Closed-Door Trial Begins Over Grenade Launcher Blast, Former Police Chief Szymczyk in the Dock

From Rzeczpospolita · () Polish

Translated from Polish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources In the courts
  • A Warsaw court began the closed trial of former Polish police chief Jarosław Szymczyk over a grenade launcher explosion at police headquarters.
  • Prosecutors accuse him of possessing an RGW-90 grenade launcher without a required license and unintentionally creating a threat to lives, health and property.
  • The prosecution says the launcher was functional and that Szymczyk personally disengaged its safety before it fired, damaging police headquarters.

The trial of former Polish police chief Gen. Jarosław Szymczyk began behind closed doors on Monday over the explosion of a grenade launcher at police headquarters in Warsaw.

Prosecutors accuse Szymczyk of two offenses: possessing an RGW-90 grenade launcher without the required license and unintentionally causing an incident that endangered the lives and health of many people at police headquarters, as well as severely damaging the building.

The indictment was read at the first hearing, prosecutor Aleksandra Piasta-Pokrzywa said afterward. She did not give a date for the next hearing, although she said it would probably take place in December. Asked whether Szymczyk had given an explanation, she said the first hearing had lasted a long time and added, “I can leave that for you to conclude.”

The proceedings are classified because of the situation in the country and state security, following a request from the Warsaw district prosecutor’s office.

The indictment was read and the court proceedings began.

· Aleksandra Piasta-PokrzywaThe prosecutor described what happened at the first hearing.

The charges concern events from Dec. 12 to 14, 2022. Prosecutors say Szymczyk possessed the launcher and transported it from Ukraine to Poland without declaring it to customs and tax service officials. On Dec. 14, at police headquarters on Puławska Street in Warsaw, he allegedly released its safety mechanism and fired it. The projectile failed to arm, but rooms at headquarters were destroyed.

A report from the Military Institute of Armament Technology said the RGW-90 was functional and set to HESH, an explosive anti-structure and fragmentation mode. The report also said it was military equipment that civilians could not legally obtain a permit to possess. Investigators said the weapon had been in safe mode when handed over in Kyiv and concluded that Szymczyk personally carried out the sequence of actions that disengaged the safety and enabled it to fire.

The first charge carries a possible prison sentence of six months to eight years. The second carries three months to five years. Szymczyk served as chief of Poland’s police from 2016 to 2023.

I can leave that for you to conclude.

· Aleksandra Piasta-PokrzywaHer response when asked whether Szymczyk had given an explanation during the lengthy first hearing.
About this summary

Originally published by Rzeczpospolita in Polish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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