Konrad Kornatowski (born 16 July 1957) is a Polish lawyer (
prosecutor
A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...
) and policeman; from 12 February to 8 August
Polish Chief of Police. On 9 August 2007 he resigned as Poland's Chief of Police in protest of the sacking on the same day of
Interior Minister
An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...
Janusz Kaczmarek
Janusz Kazimierz Kaczmarek (born 25 December 1961 in Gdynia) is a Polish lawyer, prosecutor and politician. He was National Public Prosecutor from 31 October 2005 to 8 February 2007, and Polish Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration ...
.
On 30 August 2007 Kornatowski was detained and publicly accused of
obstruction of justice
In United States jurisdictions, obstruction of justice refers to a number of offenses that involve unduly influencing, impeding, or otherwise interfering with the justice system, especially the legal and procedural tasks of prosecutors, investiga ...
. The charges against Kornatowski initially were widely regarded in the Polish press and by politicians as nothing more than a political dirty trick intended to block Kornatowski's scheduled testimony before parliament about the present Polish government's secret program of wiretapping opposition politicians. Kornatowski's arrest, took place one day prior to his testimony, which was cancelled because of his detention. On 31 August 2007 Kornatowski was released on
bail
Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Court bail may be offered to secure the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when ...
. Prosecutors presented to him charges of hampering the investigation and urging to false testimonies. At the press conference on 31 August prosecutors presented several pieces of evidence supporting the credibility of these charges.
Former Interior Minister Kaczmarek was arrested at the same time as Kornatowski on 30 August, and also released on 31 August. On 6 September 2007 a Warsaw criminal court judge declared the arrest of Kaczmarek to have been irregular and even illegal. Contrary to this, the same court on 10 October decided that the arrests of Kornatowski and Netzel were legal and regular.
References
Sacked Polish minister arrested BBC News, Thursday, 30 August 2007
*The Associated Press
Polish special police arrest former interior minister August 30, 2007, International Herald Tribune
*http://www.gazetawyborcza.pl/1,82049,4448912.html
*https://archive.today/20070623052601/http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_Polish_Watergate_Looming_After_Former_Minister_is_Detained_08165.html
*http://www.tvn24.pl/-1,1519902,wiadomosc.html (evidences against Kaczmarek, Kornatowski and Netzel)
*http://www.tvn24.pl/-1,1520490,wiadomosc.html (Kaczmarek arrest unlawful...)
*http://www.gazetawyborcza.pl/1,76842,4566696.html (...but arrests of Kornatowski and Netzel lawful and regular)
1957 births
Living people
Polish police officers
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