Gov't Triggers Official Inquiry into Alleged CIA Prisons in Poland
02.09.2008
, aktualizacja: 02.09.2008 08:09
Premier Donald Tusk (Fot. ALIK KEPLICZ ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Prime Minister Donald Tusk himself handed over to the public prosecutors rightwing politician Roman Giertych's letter about 'CIA prisons in Poland', thus giving prosecutors a cause to open of an official inquiry into the case.
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The PM revealed in Gdańsk yesterday that has twice had to do with the issue of the alleged presence in Poland between 200-2005 of Central Intelligence Agency-operated prisons for top-level terrorists.
'The ombudsman asked me about it, and earlier I received a letter to the same effect from former deputy Roman Giertych. I handed over the letter, which contained some classified information, to the prosecutors', Mr Tusk said.
The investigation into a CIA detention centre that was allegedly located at a Polish intelligence training centre in Stare Kiejkuty in north-eastern Poland was launched a month ago. It is classified and the prosecution service will not comment on it in any way. The PM's statement explains why prosecutors familiar with the case claim unofficially in conversation with Gazeta that the case began precisely with Mr Giertych's letter. Only it was Mr Tusk who was the letter's addressee and who decided to hand it over to the prosecutors, even though the case had already been investigated once. That was at the request of a special parliamentary committee made in January 2006, that is, at a time when it was headed precisely by Mr Giertych.
'The PM's statement shows also that the incumbent cabinet - unlike its predecessors - has decided that the time has finally come to clear up the issue. It's done so under pressure from the international press and the European Parliament', says a Civic Platform (PO) politician whose is close to Mr Tusk and yet opposed to publicising the case.
This is confirmed by a Justice Ministry official, according to whom the prosecutors were initially unwilling to investigate the allegations contained in Mr Giertych's letter, until instructions came from the ministry's top echelons to treat them with due seriousness.
US press has been writing about the presence of CIA prisons in Poland since November 2005, citing unnamed sources within the agency itself. In 2007, a committee appointed by the European Parliament concluded their presence was 'likely'. Polish government has unwaveringly denied the allegations, confirming only the fact of the landing of US aircraft at the Szymany airfield near Kiejkuty.
Some Polish politicians believe to this day that it is in Poland's national interest and in line with its security interests to deny the allegations. Yet Scott Shane, the New York Times journalist who wrote the most extensive report on the issue (in June 2007), asked whether his CIA sources were credible, replied he was 'quite sure' they weren't lying.
Asked directly yesterday whether the CIA had prisons in Poland, Mr Tusk replied, 'I have nothing more to add on this'.
Former president Aleksander Kwaśniewski again firmly denied the allegations last week.
Tranlated by Marcin Wawrzyńczak
'The ombudsman asked me about it, and earlier I received a letter to the same effect from former deputy Roman Giertych. I handed over the letter, which contained some classified information, to the prosecutors', Mr Tusk said.
The investigation into a CIA detention centre that was allegedly located at a Polish intelligence training centre in Stare Kiejkuty in north-eastern Poland was launched a month ago. It is classified and the prosecution service will not comment on it in any way. The PM's statement explains why prosecutors familiar with the case claim unofficially in conversation with Gazeta that the case began precisely with Mr Giertych's letter. Only it was Mr Tusk who was the letter's addressee and who decided to hand it over to the prosecutors, even though the case had already been investigated once. That was at the request of a special parliamentary committee made in January 2006, that is, at a time when it was headed precisely by Mr Giertych.
'The PM's statement shows also that the incumbent cabinet - unlike its predecessors - has decided that the time has finally come to clear up the issue. It's done so under pressure from the international press and the European Parliament', says a Civic Platform (PO) politician whose is close to Mr Tusk and yet opposed to publicising the case.
This is confirmed by a Justice Ministry official, according to whom the prosecutors were initially unwilling to investigate the allegations contained in Mr Giertych's letter, until instructions came from the ministry's top echelons to treat them with due seriousness.
US press has been writing about the presence of CIA prisons in Poland since November 2005, citing unnamed sources within the agency itself. In 2007, a committee appointed by the European Parliament concluded their presence was 'likely'. Polish government has unwaveringly denied the allegations, confirming only the fact of the landing of US aircraft at the Szymany airfield near Kiejkuty.
Some Polish politicians believe to this day that it is in Poland's national interest and in line with its security interests to deny the allegations. Yet Scott Shane, the New York Times journalist who wrote the most extensive report on the issue (in June 2007), asked whether his CIA sources were credible, replied he was 'quite sure' they weren't lying.
Asked directly yesterday whether the CIA had prisons in Poland, Mr Tusk replied, 'I have nothing more to add on this'.
Former president Aleksander Kwaśniewski again firmly denied the allegations last week.
Tranlated by Marcin Wawrzyńczak
