EC President Tusk questioned as witness in Poland Smolensk catastrophe investigation

WARSAW, April 23 (Xinhua) -- European Council President Donald Tusk has been questioned on Monday at a Warsaw district court in the ongoing investigation into 2010 Smolensk air disaster in Russia.

"Politically, I was not responsible for President Lech Kaczynski's visit to Katyn on April 10, 2010", the former Polish prime Minister told the court. "It is not the prime minister's competence to deal with the logistic side of this kind of undertakings and initiatives" as foreign visits of the head of state, Tusk said.

"It is not and should not be the task of the prime minister or the president to influence any decision regarding the landing place, time or the direction of the flight", he added.

Tusk also added that he had no knowledge about any risk involved in landing at the Smolensk airport.

Donald Tusk's former chancellery head, Tomasz Arabski and four other officials are accused by some families of the Smolensk crash victims, of negligence during organizing then-President Lech Kaczynski's visit to Katyn on April 10, 2010. Their trial started in March 2016, they plead not guilty.

Tusk has previously been questioned as a witness in August 2017.

On April 10, 2010, a Polish government plane with then Polish president, first lady and dozens of senior government officials and military commanders crashed near a military airfield in Smolensk, western Russia, killing all 96 people on board. Enditem