Prosecutors charge man with murder of Gdańsk mayor

Prosecutors in Gdańsk have charged a man who stabbed to death the city’s mayor during a televised charity event with murder, almost three years after the incident.

Paweł Adamowicz died from stab wounds in hospital on January 14, 2019, having been assaulted on stage by a man wielding a knife at a nationwide charity event on the previous day.

Prosecutors said on Friday they had concluded their investigation and pressed charges against Stefan W., the man who attacked the mayor on stage.

The spokeswoman for the local prosecutor's office, Grażyna Wawryniuk, told PAP that the man had been charged with murder and forcing another person to take specific actions.

Wawryniuk said the man was a repeat offender with diminished responsibility at the time of the crime.

Adamowicz's wife, Magdalena Adamowicz, a member of the European Parliament, said at a press briefing on Friday that she was "relieved to hear that after three years of the prosecutors' investigation the case was finally brought to court".

"I believe that a thorough court procedure will not only explain the truth and the reasons behind my husband's murder, but will also reveal certain mechanisms that in the future will help avoid such situations... and will halt the spiral of hate speech."

Stefan W. is facing the maximum penalty of a life sentence.