Allied Intelligence — 2026-08-24

Polish Government Threatens Prosecution of Former ABW Chief Over Alleged Surveillance of European Court of Human Rights

BLUFFormal charges against Święczkowski remain unlikely within 90 days given his Constitutional Tribunal immunity; Warsaw's probe functions as political leverage in the broader tribunal composition battle.

Justice Minister and Prosecutor-General Waldemar Żurek said on August 19 that authorities would examine whether the Internal Security Agency (ABW) surveilled the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg while Bogdan Święczkowski, now Constitutional Tribunal president, led the agency between 2006 and 2007 12. Żurek said on X that "every thread" of the alleged surveillance would be checked and that Święczkowski would "bear the consequences" if a crime was committed 12. Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters the same day that Święczkowski "likes to wiretap" and claimed he and his family had been surveillance targets, without providing evidence 23. The inquiry follows remarks Święczkowski made to TV Republika in mid-August that the ABW had "various kinds of means and information coming from inside" the ECHR, cited to argue the court is not independent; he denies the remarks confirm any surveillance occurred, and the ABW press office said he "may no longer remember precisely" the agency's activities from that period 13.

Analysis
Żurek's pledge to check every thread signals a formal ABW records review rather than an immediate charge, and prosecution requires the Constitutional Tribunal to first strip Święczkowski's immunity, a body Tusk's coalition does not control; formal charges within the next 90 days are unlikely, with continued political pressure and selective document disclosure timed to the tribunal composition fight the more probable near-term course. Moderate confidence reflects converging primary Polish reporting on the statements themselves, with Brussels Signal's account structurally dependent on the same domestic sourcing, but no independent confirmation that ABW records substantiate surveillance occurred. The allegation may function primarily as political leverage against a Tribunal president the government already deems illegitimate rather than a genuine evidentiary lead. If charges do materialize, the immunity-lifting vote becomes the forcing event for the court-packing standoff with Nawrocki; if the inquiry stalls, Tusk's leverage over Święczkowski stays rhetorical, shaping whether forcible installation of the disputed judges proceeds before year-end.

3 sources