Notorious former leader of Poland’s Pruszkow mafia gets out of jail

After having served 13 years in prison for criminal activities linked to the ‘Pruszkow’ mafia, its alleged boss Andrzej Z. aka “Slowik” (Nightingale) was released from prison, Polish media reported throughout August.

“A person who has served their sentence has the right to go back back into society,” Poland’s former justice minister, Barbara Piwnik, told the press.

Andrzej Z. served time for armed robbery and coercion.  His release is the result of two acquittals. One was granted in September 2012 for charges relating to leading the Pruszkow gang, and the other in August 2013 for the murder of the head of the national police force, General Marek Papala, in 1998.

Slowik has been linked to the criminal underworld since the mid-eighties. He served several sentences for auto theft in the People’s Republic of Poland.

An international arrest warrant was subsequently issued after he was charged with heading the Pruszkow mafia. The suspect was caught in Span in 2001 and transferred to Poland in 2003 to be tried.