Polish MP Konrad Berkowicz was caught by security leaving an IKEA store in Kraków, southern Poland with a frying pan and other items he had not paid for.
On October, 27 he paid a €120 for the offence while claiming he had made an error at the self-service check-out, was in a hurry and distracted by the headphones he was wearing.
“I scanned everything, but it turned out not everything went through. Just ordinary inattention,” the politician explained on social media.
Berkowicz, an MP with the right-wing Confederation party, had left the store with goods worth €90.
He was apprehended by security guards who called the police and he accepted the fine without attempting to activate his parliamentary immunity.
Berkowicz defended himself on Facebook.
“I was doing quite a lot of shopping at IKEA today, in a big rush, listening to something on my headphones. I was scanning everything but it turned out not everything got scanned. Just ordinary carelessness. A frying pan and some plates.
“A stupid mistake, for which I apologised and accepted a ticket. I didn’t hide behind parliamentary immunity like some others I could mention,” he wrote.
His comments were questioned by legal experts who pointed out that theft is an offence that can only take place intentionally and by accepting the fine, the MP was admitting he committed a crime.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on X: “One of the Confederation party’s leaders, Konrad Berkowicz, was caught trying to steal at IKEA. Not much compared to PiS [the former ruling party] but you’ve got to start somewhere.”
Journalist Patryk Słowik mockingly agreed with Berkowicz’s account of the incident.
“MP Berkowicz convinced me. I’m willing to believe he doesn’t know how to use a self-checkout. We have to accept that some citizens are digitally excluded,” he said.
Robert Mazurek, leading commentator for popular internet broadcaster Kanał Zero, said it was “surprising to see the right-wing Berkowicz shopping at IKEA since this is the store that promotes LGBT and punishes staff for citing the Bible.”
He was referring to a relatively recent case in which IKEA had dismissed a member of staff for having criticised inclusivity training and cited the Bible in opposing the LGBT movement.
