An Irish woman was caught up in a police raid on the house of a Warsaw doctor on Wednesday as he performed an abortion on her, writes Derek Scallyin Berlin.
The woman, who has not been named, was detained by police along with a male Irish companion and later brought to a hospital in Warsaw, where the abortion was completed.
Polish police said yesterday the raid was part of a wider investigation into Dr Piotr Orlicz and that they were not pressing charges against the woman.
Irish officials confirmed yesterday that the embassy in Warsaw was told on Wednesday by police that two Irish citizens had been detained in relation to a criminal investigation.
"The embassy provided consular assistance and visited one of the individuals in hospital. Neither of them are in custody and both have left or are leaving Poland for Ireland today," a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
He said Irish authorities were unlikely to make contact with her.
Polish daily Dziennik said yesterday that Dr Orlicz, one of the country's leading anaesthesiologist, was under surveillance because of a wider corruption investigation, but that the house was raided because of the illegal abortion being carried out.
"They knew that this abortion would be taking place there - this Irish woman was just unlucky," said one reporter close to the case.
However, police declined to comment on that claim or on reports that Dr Orlicz was assisted in the procedure by other doctors.
Citing investigators, Dziennik said several individuals ran upstairs when police from the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA) burst into the house.
Irish and Polish officials involved in the case expressed surprise last night about the details of the case, particularly the woman's choice of destination for the abortion. Along with Ireland, Poland has one of Europe's most restrictive abortion regimes, only allowing limited abortions if there is a proven medical risk to the woman's health or life.
"Someone must have suggested the doctor to her - she didn't just turn up and look in the phone book," said one official.
A spokeswoman for the Federation for Women, a pro-abortion lobby group, said yesterday the case had taken them by surprise.
"It's not something we've heard about before and I don't think we will see it becoming a trend," the spokeswoman said.