U.S. judge orders Polish murder suspect freed

By Andrew Stern

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A U.S. judge denied a request on Friday from Poland's government to extradite a Chicago businessman for allegedly soliciting the murder of a former Warsaw police chief, denouncing the key witness as "a known scoundrel" and chastising prosecutors over faulty evidence.

Polish authorities, represented by U.S. prosecutors, failed to produce proof required under treaties to justify the extradition of Edward Mazur, U.S. Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys said in his scathing 69-page ruling.

Mazur, 62, arrived in court shackled but wept with joy when the judge ordered him freed after being held for nine months in a U.S. jail, his lawyer said.

"I had argued that this was a frame-up but the court ruled the evidence was essentially worthless, that it was meaningless," attorney Chris Gair said.

A call to Poland's embassy in Washington seeking comment was not immediately returned.

Patrick Fitzgerald, the U.S. Attorney in Chicago, said: "While we respect the Magistrate Judge's thoughtful opinion, we respectfully disagree with the result."

Mazur was arrested soon after the 1998 murder of Marek Papala, a former commander general of the Warsaw Police Department who was shot in a parking lot next to his home.

Mazur, who had seen Papala earlier in the evening, was questioned by Polish authorities but released.

Poland's current government reinstated charges against Mazur in 2005, charging he offered $40,000 to organized crime figures to kill Papala.

Much of the government's case relied on Artur Zirajewski, an underworld figure whom Keys described as "a known scoundrel and unmitigated liar" whose 14 statements to Polish authorities were wildly inconsistent.

"Zirajewski either admits that he lied under oath, admits that he essentially made up the connection between Mr. Mazur and General Papala or he admits that he is providing information in exchange for a reduced sentence," Keys wrote.

Keys also decried a 2002 police lineup in Poland in which Mazur was asked to don a red jacket and was joined by three men who bore no resemblance to him.

"They may as well have made him wear a target on his chest or a sign over his head saying 'pick me.' Mr. Zirajewski's identification would never pass muster in this country ... the government's reliance on this identification is shocking and offensive," Keys wrote.

Mazur, born in Lubzin and living in the United States for the past 44 years, holds U.S. and Polish citizenship. In past decades, he engineered numerous business deals in Poland for major corporations such as Cargill, his lawyer said.

Gair said the case had political overtones, with Poland's current government seeking to discredit those who worked with its predecessors.

Fitzgerald said his office and Justice Department lawyers would evaluate the court opinion in considering their options.