The Mayor's Underhand Game. Behind the Scenes of a Lost Trial. Residents Will Pay for Mistakes

On April 15, the Court of Appeal in Wrocław issued a final judgment in a high-profile case concerning land that the Trzebnica Commune received for free in 2008. It concerns almost 9 hectares of plots on Czereśniowa Street. When applying for the transfer of land, the mayor wrote that he wanted to build a school, a sports and entertainment hall, a nursery and a health clinic on them. He had 10 years to complete the work. After that period, it turned out that the plots were still empty, and KOWR demanded the property. It was 2019, and KOWR was ruled by Law and Justice nominees. Marek Długozima traveled and wrote to directors and lured them with the illusion of using the plots. He also quickly issued a decision to build playing fields, which were "scattered" over almost 9 hectares. It later turned out that he also traveled to KOWR with Anna Morawiecka, the sister of the then prime minister.

At the same time, the prosecutor's office became interested in the matter of the plots and agreements with KOWR, and police officers from the department for combating corruption secured documents and questioned witnesses. As a result, the Wrocław branch of KOWR, after receiving an order from the Warsaw headquarters, calculated that the plots were worth PLN 4,518,000 and applied to the commune for this amount.

The then opposition council member Krzysztof Śmiertka appealed to the mayor to come to an agreement with KOWR and not go into a costly lawsuit, because it would cause additional costs. As he told us, he even called KOWR himself and asked whether, if the commune agreed to pay the principal, KOWR would waive the interest. He claims that it was possible and it was even possible to pay in installments. But for this to happen, the mayor had to propose it to the agency, because he represented the commune.

Marek Długozima, however, did not want to hear about it. So the case went to court and it quickly turned out that the commune lost it in the first instance. The court's justification was devastating and indicated that the law in this matter is unambiguous. The KOWR is right, it has to take care of the state treasury. After this verdict, it was already clear that the mayor was getting the commune into more and more trouble. Not only would the principal amount have to be paid, but also millions in interest, which grew with each day of delay, as well as PLN 215,000 as reimbursement of the costs of the proceedings incurred by KOWR. What did the mayor do?...