Former Polish minister of justice and wife granted asylum by Hungarian government

Poland's former justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro published a post on X on Monday, announcing that he and his wife were the ones who had been granted asylum by the Hungarian government.

As we reported a few days ago, Poland had summoned the Hungarian ambassador after Hungary granted asylum to two Polish citizens. It was already understood at that time that the case was likely related to Ziobro, the former Polish justice minister and his wife, but these were only press reports. The former minister is suspected of founding and leading a criminal organization in his home country.

"I have decided to accept the asylum granted to me by the government of Hungary due to the political persecution in Poland", the former justice minister wrote on X on Monday.

Zbigniew Ziobro's diplomatic passport was revoked last November. The former minister is suspected of having organized and led a criminal group while serving as justice minister during the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) government. The organization is suspected of having embezzled more than 150 million zlotys (13.8 billion forints). According to the allegations, Ziobro may have taken money from the Justice Fund, which was created to assist victims and prevent crime. If convicted, he could face up to 25 years in prison.

At the end of October last year, the former Polish minister spoke at a conference in Budapest, alongside Gergely Gulyás, Minister of the Prime Minister's Office, and then posed for a photo with Viktor Orbán. According to Orbán, the Brussels-friendly Polish government has launched a political witch hunt against the Polish right wing, and the case against Ziobro is part of this.

We previously contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Government Information Center about the matter. The ministry sent the following response to Telex:

"The rule of law is in crisis in Poland, and many are facing politically motivated persecution. In Hungary, those suffering political persecution are granted refugee status in accordance with European Union law."

Previously, Marcin Romanowski, former Polish Deputy Justice Minister, wanted at home on corruption charges, was also granted political asylum in Hungary, which took the relationship between Hungary and Poland from bad to worse.