Poland to Request Extradition of Suspected Murderer of Polish Woman in Greece

The government of Poland has signalled that it will request the extradition of the suspected murderer of a Polish woman in Greece so that he can stand trial in Poland.

On June 12, 27-year-old Anastazja Rubinska from Poland went missing on the Greek island of Kos. On Sunday, June 18, her dead body was discovered by a volunteer who had joined the intensive search for the missing woman.

Now, Poland’s prime minister has said that he wants the suspected perpetrator, who is currently in Greek custody, to “stand before a Polish court and receive the highest possible sentence”.

Polish government respond to the murder

on Monday morning, Poland’s justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, who also serves as the country’s prosecutor general, made it public knowledge that he ordered Polish prosecutors to investigate the murder.

Ziobro also said that the relevant Polish authorities had requested evidence from their Greek counterparts.

Just a few hours later, Polish Prime Minister released his own statement which called upon Greece to extradite the suspected murderer of the Polish national.

“The perpetrator must face very severe consequences,” wrote the Polish prime minister. “Therefore, we will ask Greece to extradite the suspect to stand before a Polish court and receive the highest possible sentence.”

Jestem wstrząśnięty brutalnym morderstwem 27-letniej Anastazji. Sprawca musi ponieść bardzo surowe konsekwencje. Dlatego zwrócimy się do Grecji o wydanie podejrzanego, aby stanął przed polskim sądem i otrzymał najwyższy możliwy wymiar kary.

— Mateusz Morawiecki (@MorawieckiM) June 19, 2023

Michał Woś, a deputy justice minister in the Polish government, linked the murder case to the high number of migrants and asylum seekers arriving in Greece during their journeys to the European mainland.

“This [Rubińska’s] case needs to be clarified very carefully, especially since we already know, we can say today, that the most likely scenario was a murder at the hands of a person from Asia, the so-called refugees, that is, economic migrants,” said Woś to Polish broadcaster TVP.

The investigation

The chief suspect in the murder of Anastazja Rubinska is a 32-year-old Bangladeshi man who was arrested on suspicion of abduction the day before the victim’s body was found.

Rubinska’s body was reportedly found naked and wrapped in a bedsheet under a tree and covered with leaves and branches.

The location where Anastasja was found murdered, under a tree and covered with leaves and branches, is about one kilometer from the house of the 32-year-old Bangladeshi man arrested the previous day on suspicion of abduction.

Rubinska’s mobile phone was also found on Saturday, half a kilometer away from the suspect’s house, its SIM card removed.

Greek media reported that her DNA was found in the suspect’s house and that police investigators noticed scratches and signs of struggle on him, which, he claims, originated from a road traffic accident he had recently.