The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe waived the immunity of Marcin Romanowski. The vote was preceded by a debate in the plenary chamber, in which, among others, ten parliamentarians from Poland took part.
The vote decided to waive the immunity of Marcin Romanowski, with 85 PACE members voting in favour, 23 against and three abstentions. Earlier, a motion to refer the report back to committee was rejected.
As the resolution adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe states, Romanowski’s immunity has been lifted so that ‘justice can be done’. At the same time, the Polish authorities are expected to ‘ensure that such administration of justice will be fair and impartial, with full respect for national law and the guarantees provided by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights.’
– We will not decide here whether Mr Romanowski is guilty or not. Here we are deciding whether he will have the opportunity to defend himself before a Polish independent court, said the chairwoman of the Polish delegation to the PACE, Agnieszka Pomaska.
– I express some surprise that Mr Romanowski did not appear at the Commission meeting. He was registered to attend the Assembly from Monday to Friday. I also regret that when the Commission was in session Mr Romanowski began to insult its members by commenting that they were following political orders. I profoundly disagree with this. In the Council of Europe, we respect the procedures and the decisions taken here, Pomaska added.
