Mateusz Piskorski, who in 2018 was accused of spying for Russia, was an interpreter for First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda at a meeting with refugees from Ukraine in a center in Brańszczyk near Wyszków, Wirtualna Polska revealed. “The Chancellery of the President was not the organizer of the meeting in Brańszczyk on March 10 and did not invite Mateusz Piskorski to it, this was done by the hosts (Orionist priests, the management of the center). After confirming the identity of Mateusz Piskorski, the Chancellery of the President passed the matter on to the appropriate services”. – Paweł Szrot, head of the presidential office, told PAP.
Wirtualna Polska reported that the photos of the meeting in Brańszczyk, where Mateusz Piskorski was present, were on the official website of the Chancellery of the President. They were removed after journalists informed that Mateusz Piskorski, who attended the meeting, is a man accused of spying for Russia.
“Piskorski’s trial is underway in a Warsaw court. A representative of the Presidential Chancellery learned about the fact that the man accused of espionage was an interpreter for the First Lady of the Republic of Poland from a journalist at Wirtualna Polska.” – WP reported.
Adam Kwiatkowski, the Secretary of State in the Chancellery of President Andrzej Duda, also took part in the meeting in the resort near Wyszków. “The presidential minister learned from us that Friday near Wyszkow he spent time in the company of a man accused of spying for Russia. He inquired several times whether this was indeed true, eventually announcing that he needed to check and clarify this. After an hour, Kwiatkowski called back and said that it was not the Chancellery of the President that had organized the meeting and it was not the Chancellery that had invited Piskorski to the meeting, but the Orionist priests and the director of the center in Brańszczyk. And the information about Piskorski’s participation in the meeting with the president was passed on to the appropriate services”. – We read in the WP article.
The head of the presidential office Paweł Szrot did not answer PAP’s questions whether the State Protection Service did not know earlier about Mateusz Piskorski’s participation in the meeting and whether his identity was confirmed only after the event.
Who is Mateusz Piskorski?
Mateusz Piskorski – former Samoobrona MP and leader of the pro-Russian Change party was arrested in May 2016. 20 April 2018. The Mazovian Branch of the Department for Organized Crime and Corruption of the National Prosecutor’s Office filed an indictment against Mateusz Piskorski (he consented to the publication of his data and image).
Piskorski was charged with two counts in the investigation. First, the prosecution concluded that Piskorski, from 2009 until the day of his arrest, participated in the activities of the Russian civilian intelligence service Federal Security Service (FSB) and Foreign Intelligence Service (SWR), directed against the Republic of Poland. Second, Piskorski – in the opinion of the prosecution – participated in the activities of the intelligence service of the People’s Republic of China.
Mateusz Piskorski was released from custody in May 2019 after posting PLN 200,000 bail.
