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Investigator says 'at least two blasts' caused Polish presidential jet crash in 2010

11.04.2022 10:30
The head of a government panel reinvestigating the fatal crash of a Polish presidential plane in 2010 has said that the disaster 12 years ago was caused by “at least two blasts" and by “political factors.”
Antoni Macierewicz.
Antoni Macierewicz.PAP/Paweł Supernak

Antoni Macierewicz’s words came on Monday, hours before the commission was due to publish its findings, the state PAP news agency reported.

Asked by public broadcaster Polish Radio if the report would contain “a clear and unequivocal” answer to what happened on April 10, 2010, the official replied in the affirmative.

“The report contains an unequivocal answer … and the results of our prolonged and extremely difficult probe,” Macierewicz, a senior conservative politician, said. 

He added it was “a first-ever case” of an inquiry into a plane crash “having to deal with completely fabricated evidence.”

The investigator said: “The Russian side fabricated, withheld and destroyed evidence, a policy which was sadly supported by the government of Mr. Donald Tusk.”

‘Technical and political causes’

“In technical terms, the Smolensk tragedy was caused by at least two blasts which destroyed the plane,” Macierewicz stated.

“But obviously there were political causes, as well, which made the Russian government decide to commit an unbelievable act of lawlessness, an act of aggression against Poland,” he told Polish Radio.

The Smolensk disaster

The plane crash near the western Russian city of Smolensk on April 10, 2010, killed Polish President Lech Kaczyński, his wife and dozens of top officials. It is still a source of controversy and recriminations.

The new commission to reinvestigate the crash was set up by the ruling Law and Justice party, which came to power in 2015.

The party's head, Jarosław Kaczyński, is the twin brother of the late President Lech Kaczyński.

The ruling conservatives have long challenged an official report into the crash issued by the previous Polish government which cited a catalogue of errors on the Polish side, while also pointing to errors made by Russian staff at the control tower of Smolensk Military Airport.

A Russian report placed all the blame on the Poles.

(pm/gs)

Source: PAP