A former Polish minister of justice, who is being sought by prosecutors on suspicion of corruption, says he has received political asylum in Hungary. Hungarian authorities granted him protection, Ziobro announced on X on Monday. He said he had become the target of personal revenge by the “criminal gang” surrounding the moderate prime minister, Donald Tusk. “I choose to fight political banditry and lawlessness. I resist the advancing dictatorship,” Ziobro stated.
In Warsaw, it had been anticipated that the fugitive 55-year-old politician would obtain asylum in Hungary. There, his deputy Marcin Romanowski, who is also being sought by prosecutors, had already received asylum at the end of 2024. Poland’s prime minister, Tusk, wrote on X that it was a “logical choice” for Ziobro — described as the “driving force of the system of political corruption” — to seek asylum with Viktor Orbán’s government in Hungary.
The former Minister of Justice(!), Mr. Ziobro, who was the mastermind of the political corruption system, has asked the government of Victor Orbán for political asylum. A logical choice.
Donald Tusk (@donaldtusk) January 12, 2026
Hungary initially did not confirm that Ziobro had been granted asylum. The foreign ministry told the news portal telex.hu only: “In Poland the rule of law is in crisis, many people are subjected to political persecution. In Hungary, politically persecuted people are granted asylum in accordance with EU law.”
Investigations into the founding of a criminal organization
Poland’s General Prosecutor’s Office is investigating Ziobro on 26 counts, including suspicion of founding and belonging to a criminal organization and suspected embezzlement of about €35 million. According to the investigators, a conviction could carry up to 25 years in prison. Ziobro has described the accusations as “hair-raising” and says he is politically persecuted. The Polish parliament had lifted his immunity as a member of parliament in November.
At the center of the allegations is the “Judiciary Fund” administered by the Justice Ministry, whose money was supposed to benefit victims of crimes. As justice minister, Ziobro allegedly instructed subordinates to funnel millions from the fund into projects from which he believed he could extract benefits for his party.
Did PiS spy on political opponents?
In addition, Ziobro is accused of diverting funds from the Victims Fund to acquire the Israeli spyware Pegasus. Political opponents accuse the ruling PiS government of using Pegasus to spy on political adversaries. Pegasus exploits security gaps in smartphones to gain broad access to data, and it can even eavesdrop on conversations.
The right-wing populist PiS, whose name stands for “Prawo i Sprawiedliwość” (Law and Justice), governed Poland from 2015 to 2023. During that period, it restructured the judiciary, which led to confrontations with the EU Commission. In October 2023, PiS lost the parliamentary election and has since been the largest opposition party in the country (TheColu.mn reported). The center-left coalition led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk has since sought to undo the controversial judiciary reforms of the PiS government.
Ziobro pushed for a “LGBT-free” Poland
During his time as justice minister between 2019 and 2023, Ziobro repeatedly engaged in anti-queer rhetoric. He spoke out against an allegedly spreading “LGBT ideology” and argued that Poland must defend its “values, identity, and traditions” from external influences. He praised municipalities that declared themselves as “LGBT-free zones” to intimidate queer residents. He even compensated a community that had declared itself LGBT-free and consequently lost EU funding (TheColu.mn reported).
He also targeted the Swedish retailer Ikea because it was deemed too LGBT-friendly (TheColu.mn reported). The case stemmed from the firing of a Christian employee who, citing his Catholic faith, had wished death upon homosexuals. (remark credited to press agencies)
