Poland alerts prosecutors to alleged offenses during probe of 2010 plane crash that killed president

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s Defense Ministry said Friday it notified prosecutors of suspected offenses committed by members of a special commission that investigated the 2010 plane crash in Russia that killed Poland’s then-president and 95 others. Commissioners alleged the crash was a Moscow-sponsored assassination.

The notices of 41 potential offenses are the result of a recent review by experts of the work of the controversial commission that was launched by the previous right-wing government in 2016. The probe exacerbated Poland’s already deeply strained relations with Russia.

The commission, which was attached to the Defense Ministry, was generally seen as politically motivated and serving to consolidate the electorate of the conservative ruling party led by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the twin brother of President Lech Kaczynski, who died in the crash.

The recent review launched by the current government found that commission members lacked the necessary qualifications to investigate aviation accidents and manipulated their findings and other data to align them with the theory of an intended explosion aboard the plane, which they never proved.

The review published this week said the commission’s work cost the state some 81 million zlotys ($20 million) and was characterized by a lack of professionalism, including a lack of transparency and of reliability. It alleged breaches of law and abuse of power by the commission head, Antoni Macierewicz, a former defense minister, and by his successor at the ministry in the previous government, Mariusz Blaszczak. Most of the notices to prosecutors refer to Macierewicz and Blaszczak.

Current deputy defense minister Cezary Tomczyk said the review showed that Macierewicz was “cynically ... cheating Polish society for many years” and should bear the consequences. He maintained that Macierewicz could face up to 10 years in prison.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk called Macierewicz an “instigator and a notorious liar” who acted on Kaczynski’s orders to foment political divisions in Poland.

The national prosecutor’s office said the notices were being registered Friday but gave no details as to what happens next.

Separate investigations by professional aviation commissions in Poland and Russia concluded the April 2010 crash at a rudimentary airport near Smolensk was the result of human error during the landing approach in heavy fog.