ABW admits mistakes in ex-Construction Minister's arrest

"We have no doubt that there were irregularities during the preparations to the arrest and the arrest of Mrs. Blida," said Grzegorz Ocieczek, the deputy head of the Agency. In April this year ABW officers raided the house of Blida to arrest her on charges of bribery. During the action Blida shot herself. After the internal investigation, the ABW revealed that its officers did not check if Blida had a gun even though they could have looked it up in the local police database. They also failed to search the bathroom. Blida asked for permission to go to the bathroom and shot herself there. All of the officers who took part in the action and their supervisors were suspended from their duties. However, the management of ABW wait for the results of the investigation into the death of Blida, which is conducted by the prosecutor's office from Łódź. "We will decide about the punishment for the people responsible for irregularities when we see the materials from the prosecutor's office," declared Ocieczek. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 1) E.B.