Warsaw Voice - Deputy's Assistant Detained

16 March 2005

Deputy's Assistant Detained
Marcin T., age 25, a senior student at Warsaw University's Department of International Relations and former social assistant of parliamentary deputy Józef Gruszka of the Polish Peasants' Party (PSL), was arrested March 5 and charged with espionage. According to the prosecutor's office, Marcin T. expressed willingness to cooperate with foreign intelligence, a crime punishable by a prison sentence of up to eight years. The prosecutor's office has refused to release information concerning which secret service agency was involved; however, unofficial sources point to Russia. Marcin T.'s apprehension coincided with the deportation of his handler-by all accounts a Russian diplomat. Media speculation indicates that Marcin T. was asked to provide his employers with information concerning the possibility of obtaining European Union assistance funds.

The arrest has fueled a scandal surrounding the Sejm special investigation commission for the PKN Orlen scandal. Gruszka, head of the commission, claimed that his assistant was not privy to investigation commission matters and had no access to documents connected with the commission's work. Leftist deputies on the commission demanded that Gruszka be recalled, but the relevant motion was rejected. Roman Giertych of the League of Polish Families (LPR), deputy head of the commission, described the arrest as a political attack on the commission and stressed that news of his apprehension appeared one day after the commission wanted to interrogate President Aleksander Kwaśniewski.

Marcin T. is not Gruszka's only assistant in trouble with the law. Paweł D., involved in a "fuel mafia," has spent the last few months in custody in Cracow. The prosecutor's office has charged Paweł D. with money laundering and participation in an organized criminal group. He is also suspected of document forgery and acting to the detriment of the Rafineria Trzebinia refinery. Gruszka has announced the dismissal of all his social assistants.

Off to Moscow
While in Vilnius March 9, President Aleksander Kwaśniewski declared that he had decided to attend a Moscow ceremony commemorating the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II May 9. At the same time, Kwaśniewski expressed his understanding for the decision by Lithuanian leader Valdas Adamkus, who earlier announced his intent not to attend the Moscow ceremony, as did Estonian President Arnold Ruutel. Kwaśniewski stressed that the postwar situation of Poland was different from that of the Baltic states: Poland did not have full sovereignty, but was able to act as a subject of international law. Kwaśniewski's decision was protested by the rightist opposition, which described the president's announcement as a sign of "acceptance of the Soviet point of view on the history of WW II and its consequences." For months leading Polish politicians have been divided over the meaning of attendance at the ceremony. Many politicians demand that the president express the Polish position concerning the effects of the Yalta Conference and the postwar division of Europe in Moscow.

"We will talk about our evaluation of all the events that took place in the wake of World War II," said Kwaśniewski. "We believe that speaking honestly and openly about the past can only contribute to building a good future," he added.

Corruption in Iraq
The Military Police has confirmed that seven persons have been apprehended under suspicions of corruption with respect to tender proceedings in Iraq. Five officers and two civilian workers-a translator and an expert-face charges of accepting benefits in connection with their respective functions. The military men in custody include Col. Mariusz S., head of the CIMIC group of the third wave of the Polish contingent.

Early in February, $90,000 was found on two officers of the third wave returning from Iraq and were unable to explain the source of the money. Both worked within the CIMIC section of the Center South Multinational Division. According to Lt. Gen. Andrzej Ekiert, the third wave commander, the money was most likely gained from bribes for contracts. In the wake of these suspicions, Maj. Gen. Waldemar Skrzypczak, the current commander of the multinational division, has announced that humanitarian assistance contracts will be signed in the presence of military police and military counterintelligence officers.

Minister of Defense Jerzy Szmajdziński has announced that, if the officers were proven guilty of accepting bribes, they would be court-martialed.

A Bad Start
Had elections to the Sejm taken place at the beginning of March, only 6 percent of Poles would have supported the Democratic Party (PD) now under formation. The new group would have entered the Sejm, but only with 30 deputies. Support for the Civic Platform (PO) has dwindled as well, while that of Samoobrona and the LPR is on the rise. The poll, commissioned by Rzeczpospolita and conducted by the PBS center March 5-6, is the first survey of political preferences following the announcement of the new political initiative. The appearance of the PD in polls has weakened the previous leader, the PO-which obtained only 22 percent, a drop by 5 percent on last month.

Samoobrona and the LPR have done surprisingly well, with 17 percent (+1) and 15 percent (+5) respectively. Support for Lepper's Samoobrona has been on the rise for four months. The arrival of the PD has not changed support for Law and Justice (PiS)-14 percent. The Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) has 7 percent, and the PSL, with 5 percent, also has a chance for Sejm representation. The Polish Social Democracy (SDPL), with 3 percent, would be excluded from the Sejm.