Below is a timeline of the accused Five’s case, from March 2022 to the present day:
MARCH 2022
22/03
– Border guards from the Narewka facility stop two cars which, in addition to the drivers, contain a family from Iraq and an Egyptian citizen. The four people carrying humanitarian aid are detained.
23/03
– Border Guard facility in Narewka: interrogation of the four detainees.
First charges: on March 22, 2022 in Narewka (Podlasie voivodeship), acting in conspiracy, they organized the illegal crossing of the border for a family from Iraq and an Egyptian citizen. They did this by transporting them deep into the country in two cars
The act carries a penalty of up to 8 years in prison under Polish law.
24/03
– The Hajnówka District Public Prosecutor’s Office issues a decision to open an investigation and brings charges under Article 264 §3 of the Criminal Code.
– Hajnówka District Public Prosecutor’s Office: an interrogation of four detainees takes place, they are interrogated as suspects.
– Each of the arrested persons presents 4 personal sureties signed by public figures considered to be authorities.
– Police raid the property of one of the residents of Podlasie.
– The Hajnówka District Public Prosecutor’s Office submits a request to the District Court to apply a temporary arrest for 3 months to the detained Four. It argues this on the grounds of fear of obliterating evidence of the crime and the high dimension of the potential punishment.
– District Court in Bielsk Podlaski VII Zamiejscowy Wydział Karny in Hajnówka (hereinafter District Court in Hajnówka): A hearing is being held on a motion for pre-trial detention for four detainees. The announcement of the decision is expected to take place the following day.
25/03
– The District Court in Hajnówka does not grant the prosecutor’s request for a three-month detention for humanitarian aid workers and decides to release them
JUDGE’S JUSTIFICATION: There are no grounds for the application of preventive measures due to the lack of plausible criminal elements in the suspects’ actions. In fact, detention should be used when there is a very high probability that a crime has been committed, while organizing transport for humanitarian reasons is not connected with helping to illegally cross the border. The admission of refugees in a state of neglect was a spontaneous decision, a reaction from the heart, an action to help those in a hard living situation, and this cannot be equated with direct intent to commit a crime.
– One of the detainees, holding a passport from another European Union country, is detained by Border Guard officers after a court hearing on his arrest and gets a decision requiring him to leave Poland within 3 days and a ban on entry for 5 years. As justification for this decision, the Border Guard states that the man was considered a threat to the security of the Republic of Poland. The border guards do not seem to know or take into account that the man has Polish citizenship, but does not have a PESEL (polish identification) number. Although a complaint has been filed against the decision, it has not been recognized until today.
28/03
– Hajnówka District Prosecutor’s Office merges all four into one case.
APRIL 2022
13/04
– Białystok Regional Court: a hearing is held on the prosecutor’s complaint against the failure to apply pretrial detention to the Four – the Regional Court upholds the District Court’s decisions. The humanitarian aid workers remain free.
AUGUST 2022
12/09
– Border Guard post in Siemianówka city: an interrogation is held of a Podlasie resident whose house was searched on March 24. The woman is questioned as a witness.
DECEMBER 2023
5/12
– Hajnówka District Prosecutor’s Office: the decision to present charges to the Four is amended – from now on the prosecutor’s office charges them with an act under Article 264 a §1 of the Criminal Code. The charges state:: On March 22, 2022, acting in conspiracy to obtain personal benefits for an Egyptian citizen and Iraqi nationals, they facilitated the designated persons’ stay in the territory of the Republic of Poland against the law by transporting them into the country.
– The Hajnówka District Prosecutor’s Office is charging a Podlasie resident under Article 264a §1 of the Criminal Code, accusing her of having, in the period from March 20 to March 22, 2022, with the aim of gaining personal benefit for an Egyptian citizen and Iraqi nationals, facilitated the designated persons’ stay in the territory of the Republic of Poland in violation of the law, by providing them with food and clothing during their stay in the forest, and gave them shelter and rest, and, moreover, on March 22, 2022, transported them into the country.
The act carries a penalty of 3 months to 5 years in prison.
JANUARY 2024
15/01
– The Hajnówka District Prosecutor’s Office announces the decision from December 2023 to change the charges against the Four, and announces the bringing of the charges against the fifth person – a woman from Podlasie.
MAY 2024
– The Prosecutor’s Office files an indictment against five people with the Hajnówka District Court. This comes more than two years after the events they are accused of. As of now, we are waiting for a date to be set for the first court hearing.
Other similar cases:
March 25, 2022 – On the same day that the Four are released, the Border Guard arrests a 20-year-old volunteer of the Club of Catholic Intelligentsia and accuses her of organizing illegal border crossings. In this case, too, the Prosecutor’s Office files a request for a three-month pre-trial detention – disregarded by the District Court in Sokółka city and later by the Regional Court in Bialystok city. In December 2022, the Prosecutor’s Office in Sokółka dropped the charges.