Logo Polskiego Radia

Smolensk: Polish government spokesperson says former PM Tusk should be tried

PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge 25.11.2015 09:47
Spokesperson for Poland's new government Elżbieta Witek has claimed that former prime minister and current president of the European Council Donald Tusk should be tried over the 2010 Smolensk air disaster.
President of the European Council Donald Tusk. Photo: EPA/Ian LangsdonPresident of the European Council Donald Tusk. Photo: EPA/Ian Langsdon

Witek's comments were in reference to remarks made by Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Adam Lipiński, who argued that Tusk should go before the State Tribunal, which handles cases involving figures who hold or held Poland's highest state offices.

“Tusk should be put before the State Tribunal, because he has a lot to answer for,” Lipiński had stated in an interview with the Super Express daily.

“It is enough to recall the handing over of the Smolensk investigation to Russia,” he said.

Meanwhile, Witek commented that “the State Tribunal would be a good thing” for Tusk.

Witek argued that this was her private opinion, and claimed that the government does not plan to pursue the matter in the immediate future.

However, the new government has blocked a website run by its predecessor about the Smolensk air disaster (www.faktysmolensk.gov.pl).

Some 96 Poles were killed in the 10 April 2010 plane crash in Smolensk, Russia, including the then president Lech Kaczyński, twin brother of Jarosław Kaczyński, whose Law and Justice party swept into power in the 25 October 2015 general election.

The official Russian report, released in December 2010, placed the blame for the crash on the Polish side, while Warsaw's report, published in July 2011, acknowledged a catalogue of faults on the Polish side, coupled with errors made in the Smolensk control tower.

The disaster occurred in thick fog, as the plane descended towards the runway at the Smolensk Military Airport. In the latter phase of the flight, the crew had declined an offer to fly to another airport.

The Law and Justice party has repeatedly promoted the theory that the crash was not an accident but the fruit of a plot against the president.

However, no explosive material has ever been identified on any of the remains of the victims. (nh/rk)



Print
Copyright © Polskie Radio S.A About Us Contact Us