Polish opposition blame death of Kaczyński associate on prosecutors who questioned her days earlier

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Poland’s opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party has blamed the death of a close associate of its leader, Jarosław Kaczyński, on the Polish authorities. She died days after being interviewed by prosecutors investigating allegations of wrongdoing involving a firm linked to Kaczyński.

However, prosecutors have insisted that all normal procedures were followed and have warned that they will take legal action against those blaming them for the death.

Barbara Skrzypek, a close associate of Jarosław Kaczyński, is dead.

She was hounded to death by the Donald Tusk regime. https://x.com/D_Tarczynski/status/1901041565109248079/photo/1

— Dominik Tarczyński MEP (@D_Tarczynski) March 15, 2025

On Saturday evening, Tomasz Sakiewicz, head of conservative TV station Republika, announced that Barbara Skrzypek had died. He did not provide a cause of death, but said that, as far as he knew, the 66-year-old Skrzypek had not been suffering “any illnesses that would directly threaten her life”.

Sakiewicz noted that Skrzypek’s death had come days after she was questioned for five hours by prosecutors. He claimed the interrogation appeared to be “harassment” intended “to squeeze out of her statements incriminating Jarosław Kaczyński”, which had left her in “a very bad mental state”.

Skrzypek was for decades a close associate of Kaczyński and held senior administrative functions in PiS. Before that, in the 1980s, she had also held senior administrative functions in Poland’s communist regime.

The investigation in question relates to allegations surrounding the business dealings of Srebrna, a company linked to Kaczyński. Skrzypek was a board member of both Srebrna and of the Lech Kaczyński Institute, the foundation that owns Srebrna.

According to Gazeta Wyborcza, a leading daily newspaper, Skrzypek was questioned by prosecutors regarding allegations that Kaczyński had falsely claimed to have been granted power of attorney to represent her at a Srebrna shareholders’ meeting in 2018 to discuss a major property investment planned by the firm.

Separately, in 2019, an Austrian businessman, Gerald Birgfellner, involved in the property investment accused Kaczyński of soliciting him to pay a bribe. Birgfellner also claims that he was misled into making unfavourable financial decisions that resulted in the loss of over €1 million.

Kaczyński has denied all accusations against him and no charges have ever been brought. However, this year, prosecutors reopened an investigation.

Jarosław Kaczyński asked the Austrian businessman he was planning a building project with to pay a 100,000 zloty bribe to a priest on the board of the Lech Kaczyński Foundation to sign off on the deal, according to the latest claims in @gazeta_wyborcza https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/kraj/gerald-birgfellner-kaczynski-naklonil-mnie-do-przekazania-dla-ksiedza-50-tys-zl/5bh9cp8

— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) February 15, 2019

After Sakiewicz’s announcement on Saturday, the district prosecutor’s office in Warsaw released a statement expressing condolences to Skrzypek’s family and confirming that they had questioned her for four hours on Wednesday 12 March, including giving her “a break of several minutes for rest”.

The prosecutor’s office said that Skrzypek’s lawyer had not been allowed to participate “because the interest of the witness did not require it”. They added that “the questioning took place in a very civilised atmosphere” and that none of the participants had submitted any complaints.

Any attempts to “link the death of the witness to her interrogation…will result in the district prosecutor’s office filing a civil lawsuit to protect the good name of the institution and the case officer”, concluded the statement.

Meanwhile, the prosecutor overseeing the case, Ewa Wrzosek, also personally announced that she would take legal action against those who suggest Skrzypek’s death resulted from her questioning.

W związku z poruszającą informacją o śmierci Barbary Skrzypek, która została przesłuchana w charakterze świadka w środę 12 marca 2025 r. w Prokuraturze Okręgowej w Warszawie w związku z postępowaniem dot. tzw. sprawy "dwóch wież", uprzejmie informujemy, że przesłuchanie trwało…

— Prokuratura Okręgowa w Warszawie (@Prok_Okreg_Wawa) March 15, 2025

A number of senior PiS figures have declared that the actions of the authorities were responsible for the tragedy.

“The summons and many hours of questioning by neo-prosecutor Wrzosek were a huge shock and great stress for Barbara Skrzypek,” wrote Kaczyński on social media, adding that Skrzypek had been “refused legal assistance without justification”.

“The death of Barbara Skrzypek is therefore directly related to this questioning and incitement against Skrzypek by the prosecutor’s office,” continued Kaczyński. “We will not be intimidated.”

Skrzypek “was hounded to death by the the Donald Tusk regime”, declared Dominik Tarczyński, a PiS MEP. The government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, which replaced PiS in power in December 2023, has pledged to ensure that PiS figures are held to account for alleged abuses of power and corruption.

Wezwanie i wielogodzinne przesłuchanie przez neoprokurator Wrzosek było dla Barbary Skrzypek ogromnym wstrząsem i ogromnym stresem. Mówiła to sama Pani Barbara, gdy odmawiano Jej bezpodstawnie asysty prawnika, ale i tuż po przesłuchaniu. Śmierć Pani Barbary Skrzypek ma więc…

— Jarosław Kaczyński (@OficjalnyJK) March 16, 2025

A former justice minister, Zbigniew Ćwiąkalski, told news website Wirtualna Polska that, when someone is interviewed as a witness rather than a suspect, it is standard practice for them not to be accompanied by a lawyer.

However, Skrzypek’s lawyer, Krzysztof Gotkowicz, issued a statement saying that he had requested to be present during the hearing because of his client’s poor state of health and because two lawyers representing those bringing the case were present, which could have put pressure on his client.

On Monday, Wrzosek, the prosecutor, denied that Skrzypek’s health condition should have prevented her normal participation in the proceedings and said that her lawyer did not submit any documentation indicating otherwise.

Oświadczenie adw. Krzysztofa Gotkowicza, pełnomocnika Barbary Skrzypek.

Prokuratura nie przejęła się złym stanem zdrowia pani Basi. https://x.com/szachmad/status/1901242281706848670/photo/1

— Marcin Dobski (@szachmad) March 16, 2025

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: KPRM (under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 PL)

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

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