Waiting for extradition
The Polish-American millionaire Edward Mazur was arrested in the US on charges of soliciting the murder of police chief General Marek Papała. He faces extradition to Poland, where he is likely to face a life sentence.
During his first hearing in the US, federal judge Arlander Keys postponed the decision on whether to release Mazur on bail until November 15. The extradition procedure will begin even later and, including likely appeals, it could take months or years before Mazur is actually handed over to Polish authorities.
Papała was shot in front of his apartment building in Warsaw in June 1998. He was determined to fight organized crime in Poland, especially drug trafficking. American investigators talked to Papała about Gdynia becoming a hub for drug smuggling to the whole of Europe, and complained about the Polish government's idleness with regards to the issue.
Mazur was allegedly involved in the drug-smuggling business with gangsters from the infamous Pruszków gang. A hitman who was supposed to be hired for the Papała job later testified that, in a 1998 meeting in Warsaw's Marriott between Mazur and gangsters involved in drug trafficking from Gdynia, the Polish-American businessman was reported to have said that Papała "disturbs our business."
But there is more to the case than links between Mazur and the Pruszków gangsters. The American prosecution revealed documents suggesting that a high-ranking official from the Ministry of Internal Affairs was involved in staging the assassination. What's more, it is said that in 2002, after Mazur was apprehended during his visit to Poland, the prosecutors decided to let the businessman go after intervention by officials from the State Protection Office (UOP).
President Lech Kaczyński also disclosed that when he was Minister of Justice, he was pressured to discontinue the investigation into Papała's killing. Law and Justice claims that this constitutes proof of the existence of 'the clique' involving politicians, the secret services, gangsters and business circles.
