Suspect in assassination plan against Tusk sent to two months in detention. Poland argues over the seriousness of the threat

On Wednesday, a Polish court sent 66-year-old Krzysztof N. from Wrocław into two months of detention. Prosecutors suspect him of preparing a violent overthrow of the government, including an assassination of Prime Minister Donald Tusk. TVN24 ↗ More than ten improvised explosive devices, a crossbow and metal bolts were found in his apartment, though the prosecutor himself admitted it might at first glance look like "the Olsen gang." TVN24 ↗ Polish media and politicians are not arguing about the facts of the arrest, but about how seriously the threat should be taken, and Slovak headlines from Tuesday reported the charges and the threatened 15 years, but mentioned neither the prosecutor's caveat nor this debate. Hospodárske noviny ↗ Plus 1 deň ↗

What prosecutors claim and what they found

On Sunday, October 11, the State Protection Service received a message from an anonymous person containing a recording of a conversation that an informant had held with the 66-year-old man from Wrocław. According to prosecutor Piotr Antoni Skiba, the man was looking for like-minded people and wanted to change power in Poland by force. TVN24 ↗ He was detained that same day. TVN24 ↗

A statement by the spokesman for the Minister-Coordinator of Special Services, Jacek Dobrzyński, following Sunday's services meeting was published by Polsat News (in Polish). In it, he said the matter is being taken "deadly seriously" and that there is a "high probability" the threats would be carried out.



On Tuesday, prosecutors brought nine charges against him. The most serious is preparing the violent overthrow of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers using explosives, which carries a sentence of two to 15 years in prison. The other charges relate to recordings posted online: disseminating an ideology of violent seizure of power, supporting the aggressive war in Ukraine, and incitement to crimes on national, racial and political grounds. TVN24 ↗

According to Skiba, more than ten improvised explosive devices were seized in the apartment, which by their characteristics resemble fragmentation grenades, along with a crossbow, a large number of sharp-tipped metal bolts, and objects resembling weapons, preliminarily classified as alarm or pneumatic guns. The power of the explosives is to be verified through a procedural experiment. TVN24 ↗ Do Rzeczy specifies that these were noise firecrackers with metal balls inside. Do Rzeczy ↗

On Tuesday, the man denied the charges and refused to testify, citing numerous physical and mental illnesses. At Wednesday's detention hearing, which lasted almost nine hours, he gave "extensive explanations" and answered all questions, according to prosecutors. The court remanded him into custody for two months. Do Rzeczy ↗ Prosecutors have a medical certificate stating that detention is possible while he is receiving medication, and a psychiatric evaluation will also be needed. TVN24 ↗

"The Olsen gang," but a "fairly serious" matter

Skiba said: "At first glance, it might seem like some kind of Olsen gang, but taking the facts into account, the matter seems fairly serious." He also stated that nothing indicates inspiration by foreign services, though this line is being investigated. TVN24 ↗

The prosecutor's strongest claim — that "several hundred" people had gathered around the suspect — comes from the recording, not from verified records. According to Do Rzeczy, this does not mean all of them participated in the preparations, and the man himself is said to have spoken of three units and a fourth being formed. Do Rzeczy ↗ TVN24 ↗ Onet, which reviewed his public videos, describes him as the founder of an informal group called Radykalny Polski Ruch Oporu, active under the nickname "Harnaś," followed by more than 14,000 people across three accounts on one network. He calls Tusk a "ginger German traitor," but has also insulted President Nawrocki and his predecessor Duda. Onet ↗ The prosecutor added that he had also named former government politicians as targets, and that he has no information regarding the president. TVN24 ↗

Dispute: disclose it, or "mock it"

On Monday on TVN24, Minister Tomasz Siemoniak urged: "Let's overdo it when it comes to security. Let's be oversensitive." According to him, the services assessed the information as credible, and therefore, in his view, the public should have been informed, even though part of the political scene questions and mocks it. Do Rzeczy ↗ The debate also included accusations that the disclosure was political, meant to rally voters around the government. Colonel Maciej Matysiak of the Prime Minister's office rejected this, saying citizens are informed so they know the state is functioning. Wirtualna Polska ↗ After the court's decision, Siemoniak wrote: "Those who mocked and downplayed the threat and questioned the services' actions should now feel very ashamed." Do Rzeczy ↗

Detention, however, is not proof of guilt. The court granted the prosecution's request, which justified the detention partly on fears of a serious crime, but the experiment and the evaluation are still ahead. A contrast is offered by a second case from the same week: a 46-year-old man from Oborniki near Poznań was detained for calling for the killing of Tusk and the Marshal of the Sejm on social media. He admitted to the insults but denies the calls for violence, and was released under police supervision with a ban on leaving the country. TVN24 ↗

Two cases that are getting mixed up in the coverage

The arson of the Starlink ground station near Wola Krobowska has been mixed up in the coverage with the assassination plan, but available sources do not link the two cases. The fire broke out on September 23. On Monday, German police detained two Turkish nationals suspected of arson in Nürtingen, along with a third person who was allegedly the driver, and a German court remanded both Turks into custody. Wirtualna Polska ↗ According to Siemoniak, the Turks are linked to criminal circles, and using criminals for sabotage is "the modus operandi of Russian services", and he said prosecutors are charging the suspects with cooperating with a foreign service and will present evidence to the court. TVN24 ↗ The cases are being handled by different prosecutor's offices — the assassination case by the Warsaw Regional Prosecutor's Office and the Starlink case by the Masovian unit of the National Prosecutor's Office Wirtualna Polska ↗ — and regarding the group around Krzysztof N., Skiba says nothing indicates inspiration by foreign services. TVN24 ↗

Also read: How Warsaw views the restriction of Starlink: Poland pays for the service for Ukraine, and Sikorski tells Musk he's watching him

Limits of this view

Everything about the apartment, the recording and the charges comes from prosecutors and from government politicians who are a party to the dispute. No independent party has seen the recording or the seized items. TVN24 and Onet are among the media that tend to be favorable toward the government, while Do Rzeczy is a right-wing outlet critical of the government, which is why we cited representatives of both camps on the contested points. German and Hungarian reports (n-tv, Telex, Index) merely relay the prosecution's statements without adding anything to them.

What hotinfo is monitoring

*Photo: Kancelaria Prezesa Rady Ministrów, CC BY 3.0 PL, Wikimedia Commons*