Prosecutor Pasionek attempts to calm down exhumation anxiety: Media conveys unreliable information, impeding prosecution’s efforts.
Published: November 12, 2016
At a press conference of the National Prosecution on the Smolensk crash investigation, Prosecutor Marek Pasionek appealed for calm regarding the exhumations.
According to the prosecution, the exhumation of 83 Smolensk crash victims is essential because of the errors and omissions made in the original investigation. The process begins in mid-November in Kraków, where the body of President Lech Kaczyński and his wife Maria are to be exhumed. 10 more exhumations are planned for this year. All exhumations and autopsies are to be completed by winter 2017.
“It is no longer a secret, so I can confirm that the exhumation process begins with the body of the late president next week at Wawel in Kraków,” announced Pasionek. “I appeal to all of you to stay calm with regards to this issue, in particular when it comes to communicating information, as the recent news in the media has not been very reliable, and it’s not helping the prosecution,” added Deputy Prosecutor General Pasionek.
He also stated that the Prosecution wants to gather any evidence possible, and each victim’s family has been informed about the exhumation.
The Prosecutor clarified various rumors regarding the exhumations. He denied for example that once exhumed, the bodies will remain in the care of the prosecution for four months. Such is the period of time the prosecutors will have to issue their opinion. He confirmed that once examined, the bodies return to their burial places without delay. Pasionek denied allegations that the victims’ families are surprised with the exhumations, or that the prosecution’s intention is to find traces of TNT on the remains.
Prosecutor Pasionek emphasized that world’s highest standard forensic experts have been hired for this process.
The initial investigation was criticized by the prosecutors. “We haven’t received any photographic documentation from autopsies. (…) Russian records included description of non-existing injuries. (...) We are unable to confirm whether the documentation we received from Russians is credible. (…) None of Polish prosecutors was present during any of the autopsies,” said Prosecutor Kuczyński.
The Tu-154M wreckage was another issue discussed at the conference. “Our plan is to examine the wreckage, and we will issue a request to Russia to obtain photographs of individual parts with their detailed description. We will also aim to mark those parts with the help of specialist software and devices,” said Prosecutor Schwartz. He emphasized that this action will help to determine what is available to the Polish side, and what is in Russia’s possession when it comes to the wreckage, since the condition of the wreckage and suitability of its parts for examination remains unknown.
“I am not claiming that the end of next year will be a final deadline for our decision,” stated Prosecutor Pasionek. “Politics interfered in the original investigation before it had a chance to properly begin, and politics is still hindering its progress. Respected experts don’t want to work with us, because they are loyal to pure science, whereas this case and any decision made about it are dominated by politics,” he added.
Deputy Prosecutor General Pasionek commented on his role he played back in 2010. “I wouldn’t want my appeal to be ignored. (…) I am surprised with what media say about me, when the facts are well-known. I don’t understand why I am asked the same question over and over again, but I will answer I again: I stayed in Moscow between April 13 and 15, but the autopsies were completed by then, so no errors could have been picked up by us, because we did not participate in the autopsies. I took over this case on May 5, 2010, when the last victims had already been transported to Poland, and buried,” explained Pasionek.
“My knowledge regarding the errors that were made comes from the translated documentation from the autopsy of Mr. Wassermann. (…) it was then that we have discussed and decided that exhumation would be necessary. I have experience in exhumation cases, and I have worked with such cases in the past,” concluded Pasionek.
Click on the thumbnails below to view screen dumps from the detectors used to examine the wreckage and seats from the Polish president's plane crash in Smolensk. An "X" denotes the presence of the detected explosive substance and its type. The underlined Polish word "Probka" or "probka" in the screen dump 1 and 2, means "Sample"
Why did they all fly on the same plane?
Synopsis: January 12, 2013, Toronto, Canada. The wife of the late Deputy-Minister of Culture Tomasz Merta: "What I am about to tell you now, are suspicions - and not even my own - but, rather the [suspicions of the] individuals in the inner-circles of the [Polish] military... I heard a statement that was made - but, I am not taking any responsibility for how credible, or not credible it is. [I heard that] had the generals and journalists' not been re-assigned to different aircraft, it wouldn't have been the Tupolev [Tu-154M], but rather the Casa [transport aircraft] that would have been taken out.
Because the Generals were no longer onboard the Casa, there was no reason for it to get airborne. And for this reason it was the Yak[-40] that flew off to Smolensk. This Casa [transport aircraft] was never examined in any way. It was not subject to any examination. Aside from a single note in the deposition given to the military, no one was interested why this aircraft didn't fly [to Smolensk]. Perhaps, this is someones crazy phantasy, but perhaps it isn't.
Some [Polish] military personnel had suggested, that it [the Casa] had to stay behind at the Okecie military [tarmack], so that the explosives could be removed from it - because they were no longer needed [...] I am only repeating what I was told."
"Disarming" Explosives ...
It is worth for us to retrace the entire process of "disarming" the case of explosive substances at the crash site. It all started with the publication of Cezary Gmyz in "Rzeczpospolita" on October 30, 2012, and information that the detectors, which were used by experts in Smolensk (in late September and October) showed traces of TNT and nitroglycerine.
As it turned out, the journalist was also reporting about the indication of Hexogen. The storm broke. The prosecution denied the publication, and ultimately, the editor-in-chief of "Rzeczpospolita," Cezary Gmyz and two other journalists lost their jobs. The entire editorial staff of one of Poland’s most popular weeklies, "Uważam Rze", was also silenced.
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