MP denies drunken attack on police

MP Przemyslaw Wipler speaks to journalists on 30 October. Photo: PAP/Pawel Supernak

The incident took place in the early hours of Wednesday 23 October outside a Warsaw nightclub.

Wipler, who was a rising star in opposition party Law and Justice before he left the party in June, admitted to “celebrating” with friends, speaking at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.

“I had found out that I was going to have a fifth baby,” he said.

“I made an agreement with my wife that I wouldn't drink throughout the whole pregnancy [following the celebratory night out],” he insisted.

According to the MP, he tried “to intervene” in an altercation with police outside the club, and was duly beaten by them.

However, a spokesman for the Warsaw District Prosecutors' office has confirmed that several witnesses have been interviewed indicating that “a crime was committed” by the MP, and that surveillance footage exists of the incident.

Police claim that the MP attacked them, prompting officers to use pepper spray.

Prosecutors' office spokesman Przemyslaw Nowak says the decision regarding whether a request will be made to parliament calling for the MP's immunity to be suspended will be taken “when all the evidence has been gathered.”

On leaving Law and Justice in June, Wipler founded the so-called Republicans political association. However, earlier this month he signed an agreement concerning a fledgeling political formation with former justice minister Jaroslaw Gowin, who left ruling party Civic Platform this summer. (nh)

Source: PAP