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Roundup: Polish PM announces dismissal of three ministers, parliament speaker

Xinhua, June 11, 2015 Adjust font size:

Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz Wednesday announced the dismissal of three ministers of her government, the Speaker of the Parliament, Advisor to the prime minister and Coordinator of Special Forces.

Kopacz announced the Minister of Health Bartosz Arlukowicz, Minister of Finance Wlodzimierz Karpinski, and Minister of Sport and Tourism Andrzej Biernat asked for dismissal. Apart form the ministers, the Speaker of the Lower Chamber of Polish Parliament, Radoslaw Sikorski, also resigned from his office altogether with Jacek Rostowski, the Advisor to PM and Jacek Cichocki, the Coordinator of Special Forces.

These changes in Polish Government and Parliament are the effect of the online publication of several investigation files concerning the eavesdropping scandal.

The eavesdropping scandal came to light in June 2014, when the weekly "Direct" published a series of recordings made in three Warsaw's restaurants between July 2013 and June 2014. The recorded people included top-level politicians, former and current ministers, and businessmen. Immediately after the publication in June 2014, Public Prosecutor General launched the investigation.

Almost a year later, on June 9, 2015, the local news portal published a number of pictures with the investigation files containing testimonies of the witnesses. The owner of the local news portal which leaked the files, Zbigniew S., was arrested for public distribution of the investigation files, for which he can be charged up to two years in prison.

Kopacz said that "for past two days the public opinion focuses only on the eavesdropping scandal, what has a negative influence on the functioning of the state."

She added that "the only effect of the lengthy investigation process is the huge Internet leak of the investigation files. This situation seriously questions the credibility of the prosecutor's office. That is why I will not acknowledge the 2014 report by Public Prosecutor General (Andrzej Seremet)."

"The only institutions, which should clarify these circumstances is efficiently working prosecutor's office, with a new Public Prosecutor General as its head," the prime minister said.

As of June 2015, the investigation files comprise of 37 volumes, and the eavesdropping includes 37 private meetings that took place in a restaurant in Warsaw. The main suspects in the trial are businessman Marek Falenta and his associate Krzysztof R. and two waiters, who recorded the meetings. The investigation will last until September 2015. Enditem