Another success for GESSEL’s special cases / litigation practice: Władysław Frasyniuk acquitted of charges of assaulting police officers

Władysław Frasyniuk, the veteran anti-communist dissident and, more recently, vocal oppositionist to Poland’s current government, has been cleared of charges of assaulting police officers on duty. The events were alleged to have taken place in Warsaw on 10 June 2017, when Frasyniuk was attending a counter-demonstration against a march by Law and Justice supporters. Frasyniuk denied the charges.

In July 2019, the Regional Court for Warsaw Śródmieście found Frasyniuk guilty as charged and ordered him to contribute PLN 7,000 towards the Victims and Post-Penitential Aid fund while conditionally suspending further proceedings for a probation period of one year.

Both parties appealed this ruling – the public prosecution was seeking a more severe sentence, while Frasyniuk’s defence team headed by Piotr Schramm was demanding full acquittal or, alternatively, repeal of the ruling at first instance and definitive discontinuation of prosecution.

Today, the Warsaw appeals court ruled in favour of Frasyniuk, overturning the previous ruling and discontinuing the criminal proceedings against him. In this way, Władysław Frasyniuk, with the proceedings against him definitively discontinued, remains innocent.

“The art of law is all about effectiveness. Also when, along the way, we encounter difficulties, or unfavourable outcomes which we cannot accept. It is effectiveness that predicates our usefulness as lawyers”

– Piotr Schramm