2023-04-26 21:00:00
Poland has opened an investigation into the leader of the largest opposition party, Donald Tusk, for alleged abuse of power committed when he was prime minister between 2007 and 2014.
The Warsaw prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday it had opened the investigation on behalf of a Polish businessman who alleges Tusk investigated his business and forced him to stop importing coal from Russia.
Businessman Marek Falenta was sentenced to two years in prison for organizing the secret recording of private conversations by political and business leaders in 2013 and 2014.
The wiretapping and publication of the private conversations created a scandal in 2014 that undermined the standing of Tusk’s pro-European party, Civic Platform, and helped the populist Law and Justice (PiS) party win power the following year.
The Warsaw prosecutor’s office said in a statement that the purpose of the proceedings was “to verify the circumstances indicated in the crime notification”.
Falenta alleged that Tusk abused his powers by ordering an investigation into his company.
At that time, Poland imported large amounts of coal to Russia, something that Tusk tried to repress by also seeking to strengthen ties with the European Union.
After Law and Justice took power, Poland increased its imports of Russian coal, although it blocked them this year in retaliation for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Law and Justice is chasing me for my government’s fight against imports of coal from Russia. The public prosecutor is acting on behalf of Marek Falenta, importer of that coal, convicted of illegal wiretapping. He used his recordings, in agreement with PiS, to overthrow the government,” Tusk said on Twitter.
The prosecution’s investigation precedes the elections in the country, scheduled for late October.
Polish government spokesman Piotr Muller said Tusk would have the opportunity during the process to “prove, if he believes so, that there was no violation of the law”.
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