Former Poland defense minister faces trial over Smolensk crash probe
Image: Antoni Macierewicz, former defense minister of Poland (wikimedia.org)
Poland’s prosecutor’s office has accused former defense minister Antoni Macierewicz of disclosing classified information during the investigation of the Smolensk crash, according to Polish Radio.
The charges concern the period when Antoni Macierewicz served as head of the Smolensk subcommittee, which investigated the causes of the April 10, 2010 plane crash in Smolensk.
According to prosecutors, while leading the subcommittee between 2018 and 2022, Macierewicz passed classified information to outside individuals.
Przemyslaw Nowak, spokesman for the national prosecutor’s office, said the case involves the dissemination of classified information both through media appearances and in the subcommittee’s internal documents, sometimes referred to as "reports."
"The materials had varying levels of secrecy: top secret, secret, restricted, and confidential, as well as other information that was not officially classified but was still subject to protection, including under aviation law," Nowak said.
During a speech in the Sejm, Macierewicz argued that he had authorization from security services to release certain information in annexes to the subcommittee’s report. At the same time, prosecutor Nowak noted, at a September 3 hearing he refused to testify.
No request for preventive measures against the former defense minister has been filed. If convicted, Macierewicz faces up to five years in prison.
At present, a team of prosecutors is conducting seven separate proceedings related to the activities of the Smolensk subcommittee.
The possibility of prosecuting the politician emerged after the Sejm lifted Macierewicz’s parliamentary immunity in early August. He is a member of the Law and Justice party.
Smolensk plane crash
On April 10, 2010, a Tu-154 plane crashed while landing at the airport in the Russian city of Smolensk.
On board were Poland’s president Lech Kaczynski, senior officials, public figures, and members of the clergy, 96 people in total. All of them were killed.
Kaczynski and the delegation were traveling to the Katyn cemetery near Smolensk for the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre. The cemetery is an international memorial complex dedicated to the victims of totalitarian repression.
According to the Russian investigation, the crash occurred because of thick fog: the pilots descended to a dangerously low altitude and struck trees.
Polish prosecutors, however, are investigating on the grounds that Russian air traffic controllers deliberately caused the crash.
The subcommittee’s research found traces of explosives at the crash site and suggested that Russian security services deliberately staged the catastrophe using special technical devices.
During the investigation, Russia refused Poland permission to reconstruct the Tu-154M from the wreckage.
Macierewicz also claimed that Russia may have tampered with the plane’s "black boxes."
