Polish honorary consul suspended

Maria Szonert-Binienda, who became Polish honorary consul in Akron, Ohio, earlier this month, has slammed what she described as a media “campaign of lies and slander” against her.

Further decisions on her future will be made after Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski returns from a trip to Australia, the PAP news agency reported.

A lawyer for Tusk on Saturday took the case to prosecutors, urging them to open proceedings.

The lawyer said a digitally-altered image of Tusk posted on Twitter -- allegedly by Szonert-Binienda -- was defamatory and "so shocking that it could not be left without a reaction".

But Szonert-Binienda said she did not use Twitter at all, adding that her Facebook account had been hacked. She said that she condemned the promotion of Nazi themes.

Tusk is president of the European Council and a former prime minister of Poland. He is the former leader of the Civic Platform (PO), now Poland's largest opposition party, and a long-standing rival of the country's ruling conservatives.

Szonert-Binienda is the wife of Wiesław Binienda, a member of a Polish government-backed commission reinvestigating the fatal 2010 crash of a Polish presidential plane near Smolensk, western Russia.

The Polish foreign ministry earlier said that Szonert-Binienda’s posts reflected her private views. It also said it “conducted a talk” with her.

Szonert-Binienda had said she was ready to resign as honorary consul if asked to.

(pk)