Two police officers in Szczecin are under criminal investigation over allegations that they carried out a brutal act of “vigilante justice” against a detainee who was later sentenced to 20 years in prison for raping a nine-month-old baby. The officers have been suspended and deny wrongdoing, while prosecutors continue investigating whether they exceeded their powers and committed an offence against sexual freedom.
The case centres on two officers from the Szczecin-Pogodno police station. According to the Szczecin District Prosecutor’s Office, both have been formally named as suspects in proceedings concerning alleged abuse of official powers and an offence against sexual freedom. The investigation has been running for around a year.
The allegation is that the officers assaulted the man while he was in police custody after his arrest in connection with the sexual abuse of an infant.
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Wirtualna Polska reported, citing a source in Szczecin’s uniformed services, that investigators suspect the officers may have taken justice into their own hands because of the nature of the crime for which the man had been detained. The outlet described the case explicitly as a possible “samosąd” — vigilante or self-administered justice.
The detailed accusations against the officers have not been established in court, and prosecutors have declined to publicly disclose all of the evidence while the investigation remains active.
Victim of alleged abuse later convicted of raping baby
The detainee at the centre of the police investigation was subsequently convicted of a sexual offence against a nine-month-old child and sentenced to 20 years in prison, according to Wirtualna Polska.
That fact has made the case particularly sensitive.
It raises two separate questions that the legal system treats independently: the punishment of a man convicted of an exceptionally serious crime, and whether police officers themselves remained within the law while he was in their custody.
Polish law does not give police discretion to punish suspects outside the judicial process. Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński, asked about the allegations on Friday, said he would not accept breaches of procedure within services under his authority and stressed that police officers are required to obey the law.
Officers suspended, courts scrutinise case
Szczecin police have confirmed that both officers were suspended after charges were brought against them.
Prosecutors sought pre-trial detention, but courts have not accepted that request. Contemporary reporting indicates that judges have questioned whether the evidence presented was sufficient to justify holding the officers in custody while the investigation continues.
Neither officer has been convicted.
Their defence disputes the allegations, and the underlying claim that they deliberately carried out an act of retaliation remains to be tested in criminal proceedings.
A case likely to divide opinion
The case presents an unusually stark collision between public revulsion at the crime committed against the child and the principle that punishment must be imposed by courts rather than individual police officers.
The man whose treatment is being investigated is serving a lengthy prison sentence for raping an infant. At the same time, the officers entrusted with his custody are legally bound by the same criminal law and procedural safeguards that apply in every other case.
Whether the alleged abuse actually happened — and whether either officer committed a crime — remains for prosecutors and ultimately the courts to determine.
