Two years after Polish mayor’s murder, questions over why killer still not on trial

On the second anniversary of Gdańsk mayor Paweł Adamowicz’s murder, over 200 officials and other public figures have called for his killer, who has been in custody ever since, to finally face trial.

Among those who have this week appealed for the case to move forward are former European Council president Donald Tusk, Poland’s human rights commissioner Adam Bodnar, the mayors of Gdańsk, Kraków and Warsaw, as well as Nobel-winning author Olga Tokarczuk.

On 13 January 2019, Adamowicz was stabbed while on stage at a charity concert in Gdańsk. He died in hospital the following day as a result of his injuries.

The 27-year-old attacker, named only as Stefan W. under Polish law, was immediately detained and later charged with murder. Yet, two years on, he remains in custody but has not been indicted, with prosecutors saying that doubts remain over his mental fitness to stand trial.

Now, over 200 public figures have signed a public appeal calling for Stefan W. to face justice. “We believe that a verdict in this case will be a symbolic act of justice and a warning to all those possessed with hatred,” declare the signatories.

They point out that there are no doubts as to who committed the crime and how they did so, as it was witnessed by thousands of people at the event in Gdańsk and hundreds of thousands more on TV. They express “concern about successive decisions by investigators delaying the prosecution”.

As well as the mayors and Tokarczuk, other signatories include a former head of the Constitutional Tribunal, Andrzej Zoll, a former speaker of parliament, Marek Jurek, the president of the European Film Academy, Agnieszka Holland, and a priest and former anti-communist activist, Ludwik Wiśniewski.

The murdered mayor’s widow, Magdalena Adamowicz, who has since been elected as an MEP, also joined the appeal, calling on people to sign a petition in support of it. She said that it is vital for the public to find out what motivated the attack, because “the motive is even more important than the person holding the murder weapon”.

Magdalena Adamowicz has repeatedly claimed that Stefan W. was motivated by political and media attacks on her husband, especially by the current national-conservative ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party and the state media it controls.

Separately, Bodnar, the commissioner for human rights, published an official statement in which he expressed his “doubts regarding the actions of prosecutors” in failing to yet bring the case to trial and their “tardiness in clarifying the circumstances of the murder”.

Bodnar also expressed his regret that, despite bipartisan calls for a calming of political tensions after Adamowicz’s death, “the political and social mechanisms have not changed and continue to produce hatred and seek new targets”. He also identified public media specifically in this regard.

Tusk, Poland’s former prime minister, likewise today took to Twitter to express concern that, not only has Stefan W. not faced trial, but “hatred continues to pour out of public media”.

Prosecutors leading the investigation into Adamowicz’s death have announced that proceedings have been extended until 13 April. “We are waiting for the results of tests and expert opinions,” spokeswoman Grażyna Wawryniuk explained to state broadcaster TVP.

Two groups of experts called by prosecutors have come to different conclusions about Stefan W., who according to reports has previously been diagnosed with schizophrenia. One declared him mentally unfit to stand trial, but the other found him to be of “limited sanity” and able stand trial, reports Onet.

“Prosecutors are undertaking actions to dispel any doubts in this matter,” says Wawryniuk. “The issue of sanity is essential for the investigation.”

Paweł Adamowicz served as a mayor of Gdańsk for over 20 years. He was first elected in 1998 and, a few months before his murder, had won re-election for a sixth four-year term.

He had previously been a leading figure in Civic Platform (PO), now Poland’s main opposition party, but in later elections stood as an independent. Before his death he had faced political attacks not only from PiS, but also from some in PO and liberal media.

Stefan W. has previously served time in prison for armed bank robberies, and had been released not long before carrying out his attack on Adamowicz. Following the stabbing, Stefan W. shouted from stage that he had been wrongly imprisoned and that “Civic Platform tortured me, which is why Adamowicz died”.

Main image credit: European Union/Denis Closon (under CC BY 2.0)

Agnieszka Wądołowska

Agnieszka Wądołowska is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She has previously worked for Gazeta.pl and Tokfm.pl and contributed to Gazeta Wyborcza, Wysokie Obcasy, Duży Format, Midrasz and Kultura Liberalna