Poland's ex-minister Ziobro travels from Hungary to US amid prosecution

Zbigniew Ziobro, former Polish justice minister, has traveled from Hungary to the United States while facing prosecution in Poland for alleged abuse of power. Polish prosecutors are investigating whether he received assistance in evading liability. Ziobro was a key figure in the nationalist conservative Law and Justice party government (2015-2023), which established political control over judicial institutions. He announced in January he had been granted asylum in Hungary under then-Prime Minister Viktor Orban. On Sunday, he told Polish broadcaster Republika he arrived in the US the previous day, coinciding with the inauguration of Orban's successor, Peter Magyar. He said he used a document granted with his asylum right. Current Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government, in power since late 2023, seeks to reverse judicial changes but faces blockage from two presidents aligned with the nationalist right. In October, prosecutors requested lifting Ziobro's parliamentary immunity to press charges, alleging he misused a fund for victims of violence, including to purchase Israeli Pegasus surveillance software.