Fatal crash suspect extradited from UAE hears charges in Poland

A Polish national, suspected of causing a fatal crash that killed a family of three in Poland in 2023, who was later arrested in the United Arab Emirates and brought back to the country, has heard charges.

Fot. PAP/Piotr Polak
Fot. PAP/Piotr Polak

On Monday evening, Sebastian M. [surname withheld under Polish privacy laws] arrived in Poland onboard a commercial flight from Dubai. After landing in Warsaw, he was escorted off the plane by police officers and transferred to Katowice, southern Poland to be questioned.

On Tuesday, Izabela Knapik from the District Prosecutor's Office in Katowice said that the suspect had been charged with causing an accident on the A1 motorway in 2023, in which a three-person family died.

The man did not plead guilty, she added.

Knapik said that M. was being held in pre-trial detention and that the prosecutor would immediately file a motion to the court to maintain the measure against the suspect. She added that further proceedings in the case would depend on the suspect's attitude.

In September 2023, a crash near Piotrkow Trybunalski, central Poland, killed a couple and their five-year-old son. M., allegedly driving a BMW that caused the accident, fled Europe shortly after. He was detained in the UAE on May 23, owing to cooperation with Poland's police. Following his detention, Polish prosecutors applied to the UAE for his extradition.

On Tuesday afternoon, a court in Piotrkow Trybunalski, central Poland, upheld the suspect's 30-day pre-trial detention, agreeing with the prosecutor's assessment that the detainee could attempt to flee again, given that he is facing a severe penalty. (PAP)

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