I was raped by „Star TVP”!

The Polish prosecutor’s office has just received the testimony of a woman who alleges that she was raped by a „TVP star” in January 2020 at the Parisel Palace hotel in Klimki near Łuków. „They are being translated at the moment” confirms my information Agnieszka Kępka, spokeswoman for the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Lublin. The victim was interviewed in London by an Interpol officer. The woman testified three times. The first time at the police station, twice at home. Her testimony is harrowing. Meanwhile, I managed to talk to her. I have been seeking this interview for over 2.5 years. It will not be a short interview. I am using the -pseudonym of the perpetrator indicated by the victim, because the investigation is still ongoing.

MONDAY: GULF 

– How did you meet the 'TVP Star’ [a pseudonym used by the author]?

– I saw him at a table at the Parisel Palace Hotel during the grouping for the Miss Generation 2020 competition, where he was a special guest. The first time I saw him was when he was sitting at a table with the organiser of the contest, Pawel Majewski. They seemed to know each other well. Then I saw him at the dinner. 

– Where are you from?

– I live in the UK and in the Netherlands. I don’t speak Polish, although I understand a lot because I speak fluent Russian. In 2020, I came to Poland for the Miss Generation competition. 

– Why did you want a doctor to be called to you?

– After dinner I felt sick. I wanted to vomit, my heart was beating fast, I was short of air. I asked Izabela, I think she was Paweł Majewski’s niece, to call the doctor. This one led me to where Pawel was standing and said: „Take care of her, she feels bad and thinks she has been poisoned by something.”

– Instead of a doctor, did they send you a 'Star’?

– Then the 'TVP Star’ came up to me and asked what had happened to me. He added that he was the most important person here, he was the organiser of this event, he was the boss of all these people. Everyone who was next to us, including Paweł Majewski recommended that he take care of me. He then took me by the hand and we walked towards the lift. There we stopped for a while. We sat down at a table. I tried to explain to him how I was feeling and he reassured me.

– Did you understand him?

– He spoke a mixture of English-Polish-Russian. He does not speak English well. I tried to explain to him that I was unwell. He suggested that it would be better if we went to his room and there I would explain to him exactly what was wrong with me. Sometimes I think it was my fault for going there with him. He had the biggest room of us all. It was upstairs, I can’t remember which floor.

– Has anyone told you who he is?

– I had no idea at the time. I only knew his name. I didn’t know he was a TV star. When we entered the room he became completely different. He started touching me. I told him not to do that, that we didn’t know each other. He offered me a drink. I said that I don’t drink alcohol at all. He then started asking me why I felt bad, why I was pale and not smiling. He also quickly moved on to questions about my private life. Do I have a husband and children. I said I had two children: a daughter and a son. He also asked about their ages, but I didn’t want to tell him about them. Then he changed the subject and started talking about himself. After about 20 minutes in the room, someone started knocking on the door. Some woman. I think one of the employees of this competition. When he did not open she started shouting: „Open the door! [the name of the 'TVP star’ falls]”. I asked him to open, but he told us to pretend we weren’t there and be quiet. Then a man started banging on the door, but he still didn’t open. Then his phone rang. It must have been the same people trying to contact him. It was then that he confessed that he did not know these people and was not interested in this competition. He was invited by Paweł Majewski.

– What did his flat look like?

– There were a lot of scattered clothes in the room. There was nowhere to sit, so the 'TVP star’ suggested I sit in the bedroom, on his bed. I said I didn’t want to go into the bedroom with him. He started to argue that it was a good idea and that it would be better for me not to leave his flat anymore that day. He also promised to drive me to the airport the next day. He assured me that he wanted to take care of me and make sure that nothing happened to me. I then asked why they would not call a doctor. He said that a doctor was unnecessary because everything was in my head and that I was just tired. I said that I had a food allergy to certain foods and that something could happen to me. Slowly, however, I was getting calmer. Suddenly he started to pull his clothes off because he said he was getting hot. I then noticed a large scar on his stomach. I asked what had happened to him. He then started to speak in Polish. He told me not to worry about it because it was a trace from his previous life. He said he had no wife. He also said he was writing books or publishing. I didn’t understand that. He said he didn’t like living in Poland because people accosted him on the street. He explained that they wanted to get rid of him. 

– Do you think he was under the influence of alcohol?

– I don’t know how drunk he was. The whisky and vodka bottles in his room were half emptied. 

– How did you end up in the bedroom with him though?

– It was getting late. He urged me to lie down in his bed. He repeatedly said that he would not touch me. Suddenly he started to be pushy and wanted to do things I didn’t agree to. He suggested that I lay on one side of the bed and he on the other. Then he squatted down next to me and started talking about his life. About not being happy, he talked about his son and that he feels guilty because he left them [the family – author’s note] a long time ago and that sometimes he does things he shouldn’t do, but he can’t stop himself. I finished my psychology and told him about it and suggested that he shouldn’t blame himself, that he shouldn’t think of himself in a bad way. Then, I don’t know how it happened, but he kissed me. It was such a quick kiss after which he pulled away and said that it was getting late and that I might be staying with him. Each time he reminded me that he wouldn’t touch me with his finger. He said goodbye at the sign of the cross. 

– Didn’t it end with a kiss?

– I was very tired, I had hardly slept for five days. We still talked for a while, but eventually I started to fall asleep. At one point I felt him trying to turn me onto my back and starting to take my clothes off. I told him to stop, that I didn’t want to do it, that I was on my period, that we didn’t know each other. He replied that he didn’t. That he had to do it, that he had to make love to me. He said he was a grown man, that he could control himself, that he wasn’t going to end up inside me, he was going to end up on my stomach. And he did. In the process I didn’t look at him, I was paralysed. He asked why I didn’t tell him I loved him. He wanted me to participate, to show him affection. When he finished he said to me: „Listen you are a nice and interesting woman, but I don’t like you that much”. I got the feeling that he wanted me to feel bad about myself. Apparently why would I want to be attractive to someone I don’t know and who I didn’t want to have sex with. 

I sat against the wall by the bathroom. I was naked. My hands were covered in blood. I could not concentrate. I noticed a holy picture on the wall and started praying to it. I was afraid to come out of there, even though I knew I should. I was in some village in the middle of a forest, and on top of that I was beginning to suspect that my stay in his room had been planned with the competition organiser. I was scared because I didn’t know what else the 'TVP Star’ could do to me.

SATURDAY: DETENTION

– What was he doing then?

– I don’t know if he was asleep or awake, but as soon as I tried to move, he asked what I was doing. Finally around 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning I told him I had to go. He then got upset and started shouting at me saying that he had asked me so many times to calm down. He then took all my stuff and threw it in my face. He then said: „Get out, I don’t want to see you anymore, you don’t listen to me, you won’t calm down!”. He was coming towards me, I swung and wanted to slap him, but he did a dodge and I hit the wall with my hand. And because my hands were in blood, he ripped into me again, saying that I had soiled the wall. I took my things and left. I went downstairs and the first person I met was the receptionist who asked why I was up so early again. I sat down in the lobby and sat like that. After a while Karina [contestant – author’s note] came up to me and asked why my hands were in blood. I said that nothing happened. I felt that I couldn’t tell her. She insisted, but I said that everything was fine. 

– Have you seen him yet at the hotel?

– Yes. After a while he went downstairs for breakfast. He acted as if nothing had happened. He was joined by Paweł Majewski, who must have known what had happened, because after all it was they who had sent me to the room with him. Anyway, I overheard a fragment of their conversation. I didn’t understand everything, but the 'TVP star’ was saying to Majewski that it was his idea. I guessed he was saying something like „You did it, I don’t want to take responsibility for it, solve the problem yourself.” 

– Do you think Majewski knew what happened on the night?

– He must have known that. He sent me there with him.

– Was this the last day of your stay at the hotel in Klimki?

– Yes. After breakfast we were told to check out of the hotel. I asked if I could stay a little longer. I hadn’t showered and my things were in the room. They didn’t let me. They told me that the hotel manager would drive me to the train station by car. I drove with three other women. At Lukow station we all got on the same train. I sat next to Lukasz and Karina. All the time someone called Lukasz and he informed that person where we were. I have no idea who was on the other end of the phone. I think he might have been talking to Paweł Majewski, but that’s just my guess. The organiser of the competition was travelling to Warsaw by car. When we arrived at the train station in Warsaw – Łukasz and Karina said that we had to change the platform. This surprised me, because the rest of the participants went to yet another platform. Then one of the girls named Monika asked them why they were taking me to another platform. She followed us to see where they were taking me. I didn’t understand them very well, so I followed them. There was a suitcase of some kind on that platform, which they told me to take. I asked why. I heard that it was our luggage. I refused saying that it was not my luggage and that I would not take it. They did not let go. They told me to get on the train with it. I refused. Then they started to get angry. I didn’t know what could have been in that suitcase – drugs, for example. Luke tried to push me into one of the trains. I managed to dodge and not get on it. They also got off the train and then the police showed up. 

– Where did the police come from?

– They claimed they came because they heard screams. I wanted to talk to them, but then Luke told them not to listen to me because I was crazy. The police asked for my passport. I gave it to them and then they said we had to go upstairs to the police station. 

– Any of the organisers go with you?

– I went with them alone. At the police station I heard the voice of the „TVP star”. He was shouting something. The policemen didn’t speak English, so I asked if there was anyone who spoke English or Russian. They told me not to worry, that they would drive me to somewhere safe. They told me to get into a police car. It wasn’t a passenger car, it was a kind of bus. They turned the music on very loudly. It was a Michael Jackson song.

– Did you guess that this was the start of more problems?

– I didn’t even know where we were going. I asked them to find someone who spoke English. They said that they themselves don’t speak and that this is Poland and Polish is spoken here. We must have been close to this station because we were not going for a long time. When we stopped, we waited a few minutes until a kind of metal gate opened. I still didn’t know where I was, whether it was another police station or another place. We waited there until finally a woman with grey hair came in. She started writing something and I asked her where I was and told her that I had to go to the airport to catch my flight to London. Then they said I wasn’t going anywhere anymore, that I had to stay there because I had killed or wanted to kill a man. I thought then that maybe something had happened to the 'TVP Star’. I was paralysed again. I wanted to take a picture of the place where I was, but then they took my phone. 

– They asked for your family’s number to let them know you weren’t coming to London?

– No. My husband didn’t know what was happening to me until Monday. When they took my phone, they started rummaging through my things. I told them not to do that. When I didn’t stop telling them to leave my personal belongings they grabbed me and dragged me through a long dark corridor. I didn’t know where I was, I wondered if it was a prison. Then we got into the lift. They were silent. They led me into some room. They threw me on a bed, tied me to it, took off my clothes and underwear and gave me an injection, after which I immediately fell asleep.

SUNDAY: HOSPITAL

– What do you remember from there?

– When I woke up I was still wondering where I was. The door was closed. Through the glass I could see people walking down the corridor. They were dressed strangely. I started knocking on the door. After 15 minutes the door opened. I told the nurse that I needed to go to the toilet. The woman took my hand and said she would take me there and then walk me to the hall and lock me in again. Then I thought, this must be a prison. The woman who entered my room told me that they would keep me until Monday, because that’s when a doctor would come to look at me and decide what to do with me next. I was locked up for two days. I could only leave the room to go to the toilet or to eat. 

MONDAY: RESEARCH

– Have you told anyone so far that you were raped at the Parisel Palace Hotel in Klimki?

– No. Nobody even asked me anything. On Monday morning a doctor came to see me. His name was Thomas. He asked if I knew why I was here. I replied that I didn’t and maybe he would tell me. He stated that he had heard that I wanted to kill someone at the station. I denied this. Dr Thomas then explained that he had heard that I wanted to kill someone or myself. I don’t know where he got this information from. I was barely on my feet after a whole sleepless night and after what had happened to me. They made me crazy, a complete nutcase as if they wanted to lock me up in that hospital for some reason.

– Did you tell him about the rape then?

– Dr Tomasz was very thorough. He ordered many tests including an EEG and blood tests for me. Then he interviewed me. He said that he needed to know what I had done that I had ended up here, because this is a psychiatric hospital [on Nowowiejska Street – author’s note] and people who end up here should know why. After listening to my version of what had happened, he said that he thought a crime had been committed and that he had to report the police in this situation. I was supposed to go for a gynaecological examination to another hospital [Banach Street Hospital – author’s note]. I went there by ambulance. At the hospital we arrived at, the doctors called the police and were supposed to perform a test that is done to rape victims, but the police officers who arrived did not take the necessary equipment with them. They drove me back to the psychiatric hospital. 

TUESDAY: RESEARCH

– What do you mean they didn’t bring testing equipment? Is this a joke?

– Really. The next day they took me again by ambulance to the hospital [on Banacha Street-author’s note]. The second time they took samples of my hair and nails. They asked if the perpetrator had used a condom. I said no. The doctors then gave me the morning-after pill as a form of emergency contraception. The materials went to the laboratory, but I have still not received any results or information about whether any traces of the attacker’s DNA were found.

– When were you able to take a shower?

– After a second examination in hospital.

– Only four days later?

– Yes.

WEDNESDAY: HEALTHY

– Turned out to have no mental disorders?

– Dr Tomasz said that everything was fine, while blood tests showed low red blood cell levels. He recommended that I eat well, rest and get stronger. He said he saw no reason why I should stay there any longer. [The doctor referred to by the woman was the only one to contact the three embassies of the countries where she resided. One of them informed him that she was well known to them because they often cooperate. I am not giving the name of the country because of the possibility of identifying the victim – author’s note]. I contacted my husband, who bought a plane ticket for me and said he would come and pick me up on Friday. I waited for him at the hospital. Throughout my hospital stay I was given some kind of tablets. I don’t know what kind, although I suspect they may have been sleeping pills. I hid them all under my tongue and then spit them out into the toilet. I wanted to be awake, fully conscious, in my right mind. 

– After the first article I published, one person contacted me. She convinced me to let the subject go because there was no rape. She told me that there is a recording from the hotel cameras showing you and the „TVP Star” walking down the corridor. Supposedly you were supposed to kiss him?

– No, there was no such situation and there can be no such recordings. There may be footage of him leading me by the hand down the corridor, but certainly not footage of me kissing him or him kissing me. After what happened, I was standing in front of him naked, bloody, he was shouting at me, saying he didn’t want to see me. I was in shock. I couldn’t grasp the thought why did I go into that room with him? Why did he do this to me? Why me? Why is he shouting at me? I wanted to get dressed and run away from there. I finally did. I went down to the lobby. Everything was like behind a fog. 

– Do you think Pawel Majewski and the director of the Parisel Palace Hotel knew each other?

– They were not the only ones who knew each other. A 'TVP star’ also feasted with them at the table. From what I found out, the organiser paid nothing for our stay.

– It’s been three and a half years since it happened. What condition are you in?

– It is not, of course, that I can erase it from my memory. It is not like dirty clothes that I can wash and there is no trace of the dirt. These emotional traumas cannot be erased. They stay in the memory forever. It sits inside me all the time, as if it all happened yesterday. I still remember the smells, the images of those places. Even when I meet Poles in town, Łuków immediately comes back to me. It shook me up. [The reaction is very emotional, the woman starts to wipe away tears – author’s note].

Thank you for the interview

Piotr Krysiak, Helena Krysiak

It is not for me to judge who is telling the truth. It is not for me to judge whether rape took place. That is for the prosecution and the courts to do. However, there is no denying that someone is lying here and there is still a lot to be established in the case.

Firstly:

Why did the „TVP star” say in a conversation with me that he had never been near Klimek in his life, or even driven past it. He did not know the name of the hotel either.

Secondly:

What happened at Central Station?

Thirdly:

Who reported that the woman had done anything?

Fourth:

Was there a 'TVP Star’ at the railway station and why?

Fifth:

Why didn’t the police officers ask the woman for her opinion on the incident but took her to a psychiatric hospital?

Sixth:

Why was she not allowed to inform her family that she would not be returning home and on what grounds was she admitted to a psychiatric hospital?

Seventh:

The irregularities committed by police officers should be clarified.

Eighth:

Why were the bedding and footprints in the hotel room of the „TVP star” not secured?

Ninth:

Why has the role played by the competition organiser, Pawel Majewski, in this whole affair not been investigated? 

Foto: Pixabay.com