I have decided to take advantage of the asylum granted to me by the government of Hungary due to political repression.
Hungary has granted political asylum to former Polish Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro, who left his homeland, claiming he faced repression. In 2018, he became one of the initiators of a legal reform aimed at limiting the judiciary, which was halted by the European Union.
"In this situation, I have decided to take advantage of the asylum granted to me by the government of Hungary due to political repression in Poland. I want to express my deep gratitude to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán," he stated on social media.
Ziobro was one of the key figures in the conservative Law and Justice party, which lost power in 2023 after the Civic Platform, led by Donald Tusk, won the parliamentary elections. He claims that the head of government is motivated by a desire for revenge against him.
The former justice minister is a central figure in an investigation related to the acquisition by the Law and Justice government of the Israeli spyware program Pegasus. It is alleged that this was done to surveil political opponents. If found guilty, Ziobro faced up to 25 years in prison.
Date and place of birth: August 18, 1970 (age 55), Krakow, Poland. Spouse: Patrycja Kotecka. Party: Law and Justice. Organizations: Sovereign Poland, United Right. Children: Jan Ziobro.
Previous positions: Attorney General of Poland (2016–2023), Minister of Justice of Poland (2015–2023), Member of the Polish Sejm (2015–2023), Member of the European Parliament (2009–2014), Minister of Justice of Poland (2007), Minister of Justice of Poland (2005–2007), Attorney General of Poland (2005–2007).
Position: Member of the Polish Sejm.
Former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Poland Zbigniew Ziobro previously filed a lawsuit in the Constitutional Tribunal for the delegalization of the Polish Communist Party. The Polish Communist Party (PCP) is a Polish political party founded and registered in 2002. It considers itself the historical and ideological successor of the PCP that operated from 1918 to 1938, as well as a continuation of the traditions of the Polish United Workers' Party (PUWP) that operated in the People's Republic of Poland.
According to the State Prosecutor's Office, the lawsuit was filed as a result of written statements from individuals. "In the letters addressed to the prosecutor's office, it is stated that the PCP, in its program and practice, resorts to totalitarian methods and practices of communism, which contradicts the Constitution of the Republic of Poland," the communiqué reads.
At the end of last year, it was announced in Budapest that political asylum had been granted to three Polish politicians. Besides Ziobro, this includes former Deputy Minister of Justice Marcin Romanowski. The name of the third has not yet been disclosed.
As early as 2018, Viktor Orbán granted asylum to former Prime Minister of North Macedonia Nikola Gruevski, who was sentenced to two years in prison for corruption in his homeland.
