Polish opposition anger at release on medical grounds of man who murdered party employee

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Poland’s opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party has reacted with outrage after a man who murdered an employee of the party during an armed attack on one of its offices was released from prison on medical grounds.

However, the justice ministry has defended the decision, saying it was made by a court, followed relevant regulations, and that the released man has remained under constant supervision.

The convicted man, Ryszard Cyba, had been serving a life sentence for the 2010 murder of Marek Rosiak.

Cyba, then aged 62, entered a PiS parliamentary office in the city of Łódź and opened fire with a gun, killing Rosiak. He also injured another person, Paweł Kowalski, after attacking him with a stun gun and knife.

Witnesses said that during the incident the perpetrator declared that he hated PiS and wanted to kill the party’s leader, Jarosław Kaczyński. Cyba later told a court that he had planned to assassinate Kaczyński in Warsaw but failed due to security measures.

His 2011 life sentence for murder was upheld in 2012 by a court of appeal, which found that Cyba had acted with particular malice, driven by political motives. The same court established that Cyba would be eligible for release only after serving 30 years in prison.

It has now emerged, however, that last month a court decided to suspend the execution of his sentence and approve Cyba’s release.

A spokesperson for the prison service, Arleta Pęconek, told broadcaster Polsat News that the inmate had been under continuous medical and psychological care while serving his sentence, and a psychiatric consultation found that “he had difficulties with adaptation”.

This was followed by a forensic psychiatric examination that concluded Cyba was “not capable of serving a custodial sentence under prison conditions” and “could not fulfil the purpose of incarceration”, prompting the court to suspend his sentence, Pęconek said.

According to news website Onet, psychiatrists found Cyba suffers from a severe mental disorder, including cognitive impairment, disorientation and a lack of logical reasoning. They emphasised the need for continuous care in a specialised facility rather than prison.

The court, citing Cyba’s condition as untreatable, ruled that he must be placed in a nursing or residential care home with 24-hour medical supervision, Pęconek said.

On Tuesday, deputy justice minister Maria Ejchart said at a press conference that, after his release, Cyba was taken to a homeless shelter that had around-the-clock medical care.

But then, when his health deteriorated and “he refused to take his medication and was causing trouble”, Cyba was transported to a psychiatric hospital, she added, quoted by Polsat.

“Not for a moment has Ryszard Cyba gone without supervision,” said Ejchart, who also confirmed that he was not at liberty to leave the facilities he had been placed in, reports the Polish Press Agency (PAP).

Dariusz Mazur, another deputy justice minister, noted that “treatment serves the purpose of bringing a person’s health to the point where they are fit to serve their sentence” and that “if it turns out that Mr Cyba is fit to serve his sentence, he will return to prison”.

News of Cyba’s release sparked outrage from PiS. Noting efforts by the ruling coalition to bring criminal cases against PiS politicians, former deputy justice minister Sebastian Kaleta said that the government thinks “the opposition should go to prison and a murderer should go free”.

Paweł Jabłoński, a former PiS deputy foreign minister, said that the government now seems to be “attempting to cover up the total incompetence, negligence that has taken place – or perhaps something even worse”.

Meanwhile, former deputy interior minister Maciej Wąsik (who was himself last year jailed before being released on a presidential pardon) said that “Cyba’s release is part of the deliberate actions of the Tusk government,” referring to plans to reduce Poland’s prison population by around 20,000.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: MALGORZATA KUJAWKA / Agencja Wyborcza.pl

Alicja Ptak

Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.