How long can people be detained in the Zondacrypto case

A person may be detained for up to 48 hours. If the prosecution applies for pre-trial detention, the court has a further 24 hours to serve its decision on the detainee.

On 2 September 2026, acting on the prosecution’s instructions, the authorities detained three people in an investigation concerning the Zondacrypto exchange. Katowice police detained J.W. and A.P., while the Central Cybercrime Bureau detained R.Z., identified as Rafał Zaorski.

The detainees are to be brought before the Silesian Branch of the National Public Prosecutor’s Office in Katowice. They are expected to hear the charges there. The prosecution will then decide whether to seek preventive measures.

How long detention may last

Article 248 of the Polish Code of Criminal Procedure and Article 41 of the Polish Constitution establish two deadlines:

• 48 hours from the moment of actual detention. Within this period, the prosecution must release the detainee or transfer the person to a court together with an application for pre-trial detention.
• A further 24 hours after transfer to the court. The detainee must be released unless the court’s decision ordering pre-trial detention is served within that period.

The combined maximum is therefore 72 hours. This rule does not mean that every detention may automatically last three days. The additional 24 hours apply only when the detainee has been transferred to the court with an application for pre-trial detention.

What happens after release

After release, the same person may not be detained again on the basis of the same facts and evidence. The authorities may continue the investigation, but another detention requires new factual grounds or evidence.

Detention and pre-trial detention

Initial detention and court-ordered pre-trial detention are separate measures. Initial detention is short-term and subject to the limits described above. A court orders pre-trial detention on the prosecution’s application and under a separate legal basis.

If the court grants such an application, it may order detention for a specified period. Earlier, in the case concerning Radosław Piesiewicz, the court agreed to three months of pre-trial detention.