Poland Probes Communist-Era Files Leak

[Faísca]

By ELA KASPRZYCKA, Associated Press Writer

WARSAW, Poland - Prosecutors said Friday they are investigating the leak of a government index of communist-era secret police files that has landed on the Internet, creating a frenzy among Poles scrambling to find out if their names are on the list.

The uproar over the list, leaked from the institute that makes the files available to victims, historians and journalist, is all the louder because the names of informers are mingled with those of their victims, causing fear it will stain the innocent.

Karol Malcuzynski, a freelance journalist, found his name on the list after a friend alerted him. He says it appears there because he was approached by the secret police while he was working for the British Broadcasting Corp., during the communist era, and refused to work as an informer.

He said it was easier for him as a journalist to clear his name, but he worried about others.

"I'm a public person. It's easy for me. I can talk to the radio or television," Malcuzynski said. "But imagine a situation of a school principal in a small town whose name is on it. He does not stand a chance. People will distance themselves from him."

Journalist Bronislaw Wildstein hasn't said how he obtained a copy of the nonpublic list on computer disk from the archives of the state-run National Remembrance Institute, where he was authorized to conduct research.

He denies being behind the appearance of the 240,000 names on the Internet this week and says he gave it to only a few trusted journalists.

He has since been fired from the Rzeczpospolita newspaper, which said he was getting involved in politics. Several right-wing parties have called for publishing secret police files on the Internet.

The issue of secret police files touches a nerve in Poland, where having collaborated with the communist-era authorities is viewed as disgraceful by many. Nonetheless, when a democratic government took over in 1989-90, Poland's leaders declined to make a thorough purge of informers from public life.

Candidates for public office now must simply declare whether they collaborated. There's no penalty for such an admission, but those who falsely deny it and are caught face a 10-year ban from holding office. Some, particularly on the political right, are calling for a wider-ranging effort to expose former collaborators.

The institute says theft of the list is illegal and prosecutors say they are investigating. "National prosecutors believe that the case has so many unclear aspects that may suggest a crime has been committed that we have made the decision to clarify it through penal procedure," Deputy National Prosecutor Kazimierz Olejnik said.

The inquiry could focus on laws that protect personal data, which carries a two-year prison term, Maciej Kujawski, a spokesman for prosecutors said Friday. Prosecutors are also investigating whether someone at the institute helped Wildstein copy the list.

Previously, the list was available only to researchers or others cleared for access at the institute.

Hundreds of people who found their names, or a name of someone who shared the same name, are crowding the National Remembrance Institute offices to fill out an application to look into their files and see what's inside.

"Everyone on this list is equally guilty and not guilty. This is morally absurd," wrote Jerzy Baczynski editor in chief of the respected weekly Polityka.

The institute promised to quicken the pace of issuing documents for those whose names were on the list and who feel wronged by it. Leon Kieres, who heads the institute, said the institute would be able to handle the increased number of inquiries.

Prime Minister Marek Belka has said he will support the institute's request for additional funds to cope with the increased applications.


[ Source ]

[bocian]

Many that shouldn't be, many that are and should be, many more who probably don't even exist... and one must consider the circumstances under which most 'operated'...oh, and I forgot to add that victims are on the list.

Too late, too little, and absolutely messed up.

[Heinz Reinefarth]

Originally Posted by bocian

Too late, too little, and absolutely messed up.

What can one say except: Typical polish!

[bocian]

Originally Posted by Heinz Reinefarth

What can one say except: Typical polish!

Ah yes, the world famous German sense of humour...

[Pandur]

Originally Posted by Heinz Reinefarth

What can one say except: Typical polish!

ROFL!

Heinz.
Your profile data (meta-ethnicity) inspired me to purge my profile from the signs of internationalism. There must be no compromise with the cosmopolitans!

[Polak]

Originally Posted by bocian

Ah yes, the world famous German sense of humour...

LOL


No such thing.