Danuta Olewnik, the sister of Krzysztof Olewnik, has given evidence over the murder of her brother in 2003.

Testifying in front of a parliamentary committee called up to investigate the death of Krzysztof Olewnik, the deceased’s sister started by attacking the justice system, ministers and police for their alleged futility over the handling of her brother’s kidnapping.

“No-one did anything to help us. Is this the way things are going in Poland?” Ms. Olewnik asked rhetorically before the parliamentary committee.

Danuta Olewnik continued her opening statement saying “what is happening with the Polish state if this case has been going on for nine years?”, an emotional attack on the justice system in the country.

The sister of the murdered businessmen shed a number of tears during her statement, which also slammed former ministers of not handing over the case when their terms were up.

“Messrs. Kalisz, Brachmanski Siemiatkowski, Szymanek-Deresz, Olejnik, and Sadowski: if it were your child that was kidnapped, you would also pray to all the saints for them to move heaven and earth. Why has my brother been treated differently?” Ms. Olewnik demanded.

Police incompetence

During the committee hearing Ms. Olewnik said that the police were in the possession of the telephone number of the kidnapper and a copy of the phone’s SIM card, but did not put them to use.

According to Danuta Olewnik, when the kidnappers made a repeated ransom demand on 24 July 2003, she left with her husband in accordance with the kidnapper’s instructions.

However, “they [the police] did not give us instructions on how to hand over the ransom,” she said.

They left their home in Drobin, central Poland for Warsaw, where they were to drop the money from an expressway in the capital.

Olewnik criticised the way the police handled the drop off, testifying that they were “carelessly following us,” adding that “if they had used the bug, they could have driven in front of us and caught the perpetrators.”

The son of a businessman from Plock, central Poland, Krzysztof Olewnik was abducted in October 2001 and a ransom was demanded for his release. In July 2003, the abductors were given 300,000 euro, but Krzysztof Olewnik was still not freed.

His body was later found and the post mortem concluded that he was tortured and brutally murdered a month after the kidnappers received the money.

The case continues. (jb)

Sources: PAP/tvn24/wp.pl

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