“Polish court denied extradition to Germany of a Ukrainian national suspected of blowing up Nord Stream 2 and released him from custody. And rightly so. The case is closed,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk commented on X, after the suspect was released on Oct. 17.
Tusk’s comment, uncouth for a Prime Minister about a judiciary act, underscores the highly political question behind the issue. The Polish court decision follows a similar ruling by Italy’s Corte di Cassazione on Oct. 15, which will probably result in the release from jail of another suspect, who had been arrested in September in Rimini.
Both the Polish and the Italian courts pointed to irregularities in the German warrant. However, the Polish ruling went further, insisting that the pipeline bombing was an act of war and Germany has no jurisdiction, because it occurred in international waters.
“The Polish court does not have any evidence in this case, as the German side only sent very general information,” Judge Dariusz Lubowski was cited by Poland’s PAP news agency as saying. The judge also argued that the alleged sabotage constituted a “military operation” that was “not illegal.” He argued that the suspect allegedly acted on behalf of Kyiv, meaning “only the Ukrainian state can bear responsibility for this act.”
At this point, German investigators not being able to interrogate the suspects, the narrative of “the Ukrainian divers did it” can live longer, without the possibility to check it in a legal procedure.
Cui prodest? The real perpetrators, i.e., The U.K., the Biden administration and the Polish government itself, whose Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski tweeted “Bravo Joe” when the pipeline was blown up.
(The German judiciary might not be innocent, as a formal error in the legal warrant might have been planted intentionally. Speaking of an independent judiciary in the EU is an oximoron.)
As for Tusk’s tweet, Italian economist Michele Geraci correctly wrote: “It is a very, very dangerous tweet that, basically sends to the world the following messages
“1) The Law in Poland is subject to Political Influence
“2) People are not equal in front of the law. Those we like, can commit crimes
“3) Terrorist attacks to European Infrastructure are ok, sometimes
“4) Article 5 of the NATO Treaty is just a piece of paper...if the attack on NATO infrastructure is done by people we like, then Art 5 does not apply
“Basically, the Prime Minister of Poland has, in 250 characters, thrown away centuries of progress of Rule of Law, substituted with the more feudal and monarchic: ‘Le loi c’est moi.’”
