The case is related to the Smolensk air disaster, in which 96 passengers of the Polish presidential plane lost their lives, including the twin brother of Jaroslaw Kaczynski.
The Polish lower house of parliament (Sejm) suspended Jaroslaw Kaczynski's immunity on Friday after civil activist Zbigniew Komosa initiated criminal proceedings against the former prime minister and the president of the main opposition force, Law and Justice (PiS).
241 representatives in the 460-person Sejm supported the withdrawal of the immunity of Kaczynski's representatives. It was opposed, among others, by the members of PiS and the also opposition Confederation, a total of 206 representatives.
The case is related to the Smolensk air disaster on April 10, 2010, in which 96 passengers of the Polish presidential plane lost their lives, including the twin brother of President Lech Kaczynski, Jaroslaw Kaczynski.
On the 10th of every month, a group of PiS representatives, including Jaroslaw Kaczynski, pay their respects at the Warsaw memorial to the victims of the air disaster. Before the commemorations, Komosa has regularly placed a wreath at the memorial since 2018, with the following inscription: "In memory of the 95 victims of Lech Kaczynski, who ordered the pilots to land in extremely difficult conditions in Smolensk".
The 48-year-old Komosa accused the 75-year-old president of PiS of punching him twice in the face during the commemoration held on October 10, when a scuffle broke out with the participation of counter-protesters.
The Sejm also voted on another immunity motion submitted by the Polish police chief over suspicions that three members of the PiS, including Kaczynski, had damaged the wreath placed by Komosa and the inscription on it. However, this motion was not approved by the Sejm, as the representatives of Poland 2050 and the Polish Peasant Party, belonging to the government coalition, also voted against it.
In the resolution before the vote, Jaroslaw Kaczynski criticized the protection of Komosa by the criminal law authorities, who inflicts "permanent harassment and even mental abuse" on the families of the Smolensk victims.
PiS faction leader Mariusz Blaszczak called Komosa's motion scandalous on Wednesday. The activist utters slogans that did not even appear in the Russian report on the Smolensk air disaster, he said.
Szymon Holownia, president of the Sejm and head of Poland 2050, called it doubtful on Wednesday that Kaczynski's immunity should be revoked in the "very sensitive case" of the Smolensk commemorations. PiS should be held accountable for matters more serious than vandalism, he said.
In response to this, Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on X: "PiS's accountability is progressing more slowly because not everyone in the coalition understood that the restoration of the (rule of law) in Poland is impossible without it. If the coalition partners do not come to their senses, the people will hold them to account," he added.
MTI
Cover photo: Jaroslaw Kaczynski, president of the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party
Source: MTI/EPA-PAP/Piotr Nowak
