"Logic indicates that this could have been murder." Prosecutors on closed investigation into Jolanta Brzeska's death

On Thursday, a press conference was held at the National Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw regarding the discontinuation of the investigation into the death of tenant activist Jolanta Brzeska.

"We are aware that logic indicates that this could have been murder. However, the evidence gathered in the course of the proceedings did not confirm or exclude any of the main accepted versions of this event," said Paweł Pik, the Regional Prosecutor in Gdańsk. "As prosecutors, we must base ourselves on evidence and only on it," he stressed.

He stressed that "this is not the end of the proceedings, this is the closure of a certain stage". "If any circumstance arises that will indicate the need to further deepen the material in the case, the proceedings will certainly be resumed," Pik stressed. He added that the investigators could ask for help from police officers from Archiwum X, who specialize in old, unsolved cases.

Prosecutor Mariusz Marciniak, spokesperson for the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Gdańsk, explained that further investigation is not possible as all planned procedural steps have been taken.

"Remember that the statute of limitations for this case will expire 40 years after Ms. Jolanta Brzeska's death - on March 1, 2051. The case continues, but on a different plane, in a different dimension. I'm referring to the police and prosecutor's ability to revisit this case," Marciniak said.

Prosecutor Piotr Styczewski, who supervised the investigation, spoke about the details of the proceedings. He recalled that in November 2016, a 14-person investigative team from the Central Investigation Bureau of Police was appointed. Additional officers from the Unsolved Crimes Team of the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the National Police Headquarters joined in September 2018.

"We had the practice of meeting every two months," said Styczewski. "We discussed the evidence gathered between these working meetings," he added.

The prosecutor stressed that in the course of the investigation, various opinions were relied upon, some of which were innovative. "In many other investigations ... it would not have been possible to obtain such opinions. But this investigation was treated as a priority. It was decided that everything possible should be done," he reassured.

"All the possibilities allowed by criminal procedure were carried out," Styczewski emphasized.

Journalists asked whether the prosecutors believe the evidence was properly secured during the initial investigation.

"The issue of collecting evidence in the previous proceedings was not the subject of our examination in this case. A separate investigation was conducted," said Prosecutor Antonina Klawitter. "We received the evidence file in a certain condition. We examined this material, not the way it was collected," she added.

The investigation into the murder of the tenant activist was initiated on March 3, 2011, by the District Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw - Mokotów, and later taken over by the District Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw.

It was first discontinued in 2013 due to the perpetrators not being identified. As the investigators indicated at the time, many premises suggested that third parties contributed to the woman's death, but some circumstances did not categorically rule out the suicide version (although it was considered probable).

From September 12, 2016, until now, the investigation was conducted by the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Gdańsk.

On November 4th, tvnwarszawa.pl reported that the investigation into Jolanta Brzeska's murder had been discontinued again. The reason was "the lack of data sufficiently justifying the suspicion of committing a prohibited act."

According to the information provided by the prosecutor's office, the investigation was discontinued on October 28 by a prosecutor from the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Gdańsk. It had focused on a possible murder by pouring flammable liquid on the woman and setting her on fire.

Jolanta Brzeska lived with her family at Nabielaka 9 in Warsaw. In 2006, the building was transferred to three heirs of the former owners and Marek M., who was buying up claims. After multiple rent increases, the tenants fell into a debt spiral.

The tenants were harassed and threatened with eviction. As a result, Brzeska, along with other families, established the Warsaw Tenants' Association.

On March 1, 2011, Jolanta Brzeska left her home and never returned. Her burned remains were later found in a park in Powsin.