Sebastian Kornhauser - Poland

November 06

Mr. Sebastian Kornhauser is a 28 year old dual British and Israeli national from London. He works as a defence consultant and in September 2004, he moved to Krakow, Poland to work on consultation projects between Polish Armaments Manufacturers and the Ministry of Defence in New Delhi. Shortly after arriving in Poland, he was targeted by officials of the Polish municipal authority in Krakow and subjected to continual harassment.

On the afternoon of 5th May 2005 a dozen armed men, some in plain clothes and others in SWAT uniforms, entered his home without a permit and by force with machine guns and dogs. They destroyed his Israeli flags which were hanging by the windows, turned his home upside down and seized many of his personal possessions. Among these was a ‘blank firing pistol’ which Mr Kornhauser had purchased several years earlier as a souvenir from the Czech Republic. Under Polish law he needed a permit for this but was unaware of that at the time. He was then taken by unmarked car to the police investigation centre in Krakow, where he claims he was badly beaten.

According to our information at no time was an arrest warrant ever sought or obtained from any Polish court or prosecutors’ office. We believe that none of the armed men identified themselves as policemen and at no point was Sebastian Kornhauser informed that he was under arrest or of his rights under Polish law.

Mr. Kornhauser was held in a detention centre in Krakow. He claims that whilst in detention he was physically assaulted, abused, degraded and forced to endure humiliating treatment. The guards taunted him, saying, “If you don’t stop complaining we’ll send you to Auschwitz and you will leave through the chimney just as your forefathers did”, and performing Nazi salutes in front of him. Contrary to recommendations made by the Council of Europe to Poland, his requests for kosher food were not met and he was deprived of natural light. As part of this psychological abuse, Mr Kornhauser was on one occasion shown a room where prisoners were executed in the days when Poland still practiced the death penalty.

The first court hearing took place on 1st June 2005 in Mr. Kornhauser’s absence. A second hearing was held on the 26th July 2005, at which the district court in Krakow ordered that a number of Mr Kornhauser’s possessions taken at the time of his arrest should not be regarded as material evidence and were to be returned. Included in these was his laptop. A further court hearing took place on the 3rd August 2005 at which the district court ordered his immediate release. He was ordered not to leave the country, however his passport was returned to him. Another hearing was scheduled for the 5th October 2005.

At that hearing, Mr Kornhauser pleaded guilty to possessing a weapon without a permit and received a sentence of one years’ imprisonment suspended for two years. The judge did not lift the imposed travel restrictions, as there were other unspecified matters under investigation. The Central Department for Classified Information then took over Mr. Kornhauser’s case.

Shortly thereafter, he became aware that further persecution was likely, and decided to leave Poland, escaping across the mountain pass into Slovakia on an arduous 100km trek. From there he returned to the UK.

It is apparent in this case that the Polish police were motivated to victimise Mr Kornhauser. He had 3 Israeli flags clearly visible at each window of his apartment. All were removed and destroyed by the police. This gives rise to suggestions of prejudice and discrimination.

Mr Kornhauser also believes that his work in defence procurement negotiations between Poland and India marked him for further persecution. During the course of these negotiations, he wrote to the Indian Minister of Defence of his concerns at what he saw as an emerging monopoly in the state-controlled Polish defence industry. It was after he sent this letter that the police arrived and seized his laptop – in what was a possible attempt to obtain and/or destroy privileged documents stored on it, and put him out of business.

Mr Kornhauser’s saga does not end here. In September 2006 a summons from a senior prosecutor arrived at his London address requesting him to appear in front of the Prosecutor’s office on

11th October 2006 to answer charges relating to the installation of illegal software on his computer. Mr Kornhauser maintains his innocence in relation to these charges. Attempts by Fair Trials Abroad to obtain the prosecution evidence have been unsuccessful. Mr Kornhauser has been told that if he returns to Poland, he will be arrested while this matter is investigated. It would appear this is the latest attempt to harass and victimise him. In any event, he is not well enough to travel back to Poland. As a result his experiences there, he now suffers from severe depression and anxiety attacks and has not been able to return to work.

Main Grounds of concern regarding fair trial procedures:

Disclosure of confidential information

Fair Trials Abroad has seen documentation that a Polish prosecutor wrote a very casual and unofficial letter (hand written) on 12th September 2005 to a judge at the Regional court in Krakow, informally requesting to "borrow" case files [II K 1747/05] to which he was not privy to in part or at all due to the fact that the case was completely unrelated.

The courts in Poland have a statutory legal duty not to disclose confidential information to third parties. Someone wrote in handwriting (without an official court stamp of the Polish court) "Wyrazam Zgode" which means "I agree", followed by a signature. This extra-judicial conduct is unlawful. It would appear this prosecutor obtained the unrelated court files from the court unofficially.

Political dimension

Some other peculiar matters have arisen to underline our suspicion that there is a political agenda behind attempts by the Polish authorities to prosecute Mr Kornhauser.

After an article titled “Behind closed doors” appeared in the November 2006 issue of the English language magazine Polish Monthly, Mr Kornhauser informed us that he received an anonymous call from the National Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw, and was threatened in Polish; "We will get you and return you to where you came from".

Mr. Kornhauser’s helpful Polish lawyer has advised him that if he does not return to Poland voluntarily, he could be forcibly extradited under a European Arrest Warrant (EAW). Yet the sole charge on which this would be based - purported use of ‘illegal software’ - is not an extraditable offence under the provisions of that instrument. This gives rise to a further risk that the Polish authorities will lay additional spurious charges to force Mr. Kornhauser’s return.