Piesiewicz’s lawyer: Court found a severe sentence unlikely

Radosław Piesiewicz denies all criminal allegations against him and has provided detailed explanations three times, according to his lawyer, Jędrzej Kupczyński. He answered questions twice at the prosecutor’s office and again during a court hearing on pretrial detention.

Piesiewicz faces allegations under two provisions of Poland’s criminal code. They concern paid influence-peddling and satisfying one group of creditors to the detriment of others while insolvency was threatened. His lawyer argues that the evidence presented by prosecutors did not justify placing him in temporary custody.

The court accepted only one of the prosecutor’s two stated grounds for detention, Kupczyński said. It agreed that Piesiewicz might interfere with the proceedings by encouraging others to give false testimony. However, it did not accept that a severe sentence was realistically likely in his case.

One of the alleged offenses, paid influence-peddling, carries a potential sentence of up to eight years in prison. The lawyer said the court nevertheless found a punishment at the upper end of the statutory range unlikely. He added that the defense could not yet fully challenge the court’s assessment because it was still waiting for the written reasoning.

Kupczyński also questioned the speed of the proceedings. Prosecutors submitted their detention request at 9:37 p.m. on Aug. 28, while the court announced its decision at 5 a.m. the following morning. The lawyer said the court acted legally but could have used the full 24-hour period to examine the evidence and issue its decision with written grounds. The court postponed preparation of that reasoning by seven days.