Polish law knows a measurement which, by definition, is to be applied exceptionally and cautiously, and which in practice increasingly turns into a whip for a citizen. Temporary detention – as we talk about it – is now utilized not as a safeguard of criminal proceedings, but as a method of testifying, breaking the psyche and forcing confession. And although it sounds like a relic of authoritarian systems, it's in a democratic state of law. It happens all day. Not in Uzbekistan, but here in Poland.
Temporary detention as preliminary judgment
In fresh years, the number of temporary detention applications has remained alarmingly high. Data indicate that in many cases people who have been in custody for many months — ba, even years — are yet sentenced to penalties lower than the time they have already spent in prison. Or even acquitted.
This raises a question which the state should ask itself: if individual spent 2 years in custody and later the court gives him a year in prison – was this detention a precautionary measure, or was it just punishment without a sentence?
Or maybe, and the worst of the answers, was this A way to "soften" a suspect? To halt looking for lawyers, halt denying, halt fighting for innocence? Arrest not as an expression of reasonable state caution, but as a hammer – to force a confession, or to release partners. This is simply a mining detention facility.
Number of persons arrested on a temporary basis – all (first chart), and for a period longer than 2 years (second chart), in 2014-23. Source: https://demagog.org.pl/provisional/provisional-abuse-in-charge-in-script-check-statistics/Principle 150% – time to change the system
In a state that aspires to the designation of modern, liberal and respectful citizenship, time spent in detention should be treated with peculiar care. Not only on a procedural basis, but besides at the punishment stage.
If the court yet decides a prison sentence, each day spent in custody should be counted as at least 1,5 – or possibly even 2 days of the sentence. This is not a bonus – it is compensation for uncertainty, for isolation without a sentence, for a damaged reputation and frequently professional life.
It's besides a clear signal to the prosecution and the courts: if you're going to close individual before the trial, you gotta think 3 times, due to the fact that this time can't just be a "ordinary introduction to prison." This must cost – systemic and political.
Totalitarianism in white gloves
Let us not fool ourselves – the usage of mining detention is not a substance of the regulation of law, but of the mentality of prosecutors. A country that trusts its citizens and respects their dignity does not close them preventively, just due to the fact that "it is easier to investigate". Only an authoritarian state treats temporary detention as a standard alternatively than an exception.
In a free country, a citizen who has not been convicted should be treated as an innocent individual – besides physically, besides trially. Otherwise, we are dealing with an elegant version of repression – in a suit, but with the same contempt for the individual as during the martial law.
Freedom is simply a value – besides for the rich
Let us not be afraid to say this straight – only people who have something to lose realize the value of freedom. It is those who run businesses who employment others, who keep families – they know best that the weeks spent in custody are not only wasted time but ruined lives.
That is why it is the mediate and advanced class – the neorich, enterprising, active – that should most loudly request the abolition of mining detention. Not to defend criminals, but to defend a civilization based on law and respect for a citizen.
It's time to end up in jail as a scarecrow.
Let the courts be quick, let the sentences be severe if necessary. But don't let the trial start with bars and handcuffs. The interim detention only makes sense if the fishy actually threatens the proceedings – not erstwhile the prosecutor lacks evidence.
Because a country that needs to lock people up to confess or turn in partners isn't strong. He's weak, he's fearful, he's cowardly. And this, in the 21st century, no of us should accept.
