Poland's dirty political war continues
Classified Polnews
The recently dismissed Polish Minister of Finance has been ruined by charges of lying on a vetting statement and she may never be able to prove her innocence. What is most shocking about this case is that she may never be able to answer the charges in court and she may never even see the evidence against her.
Poland
Shortly after the charges of lying on her vetting statement were filed to the vetting court Poland's Prime Minister, Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, dismissed Zyta Gilowska from her post and in the process of dismissal trapped her. Background on the dismissal can be seen at this set of links. Is the Polish government involved in a political dirty war? and Was blackmail involved in the dismissal of the Polish Minister of Finance?
For some reason the documents and evidence against Zyta Gilowska are classified. They concern her activities as a housewife in the period 1987 to 1989. It has not been explained what classified activities a housewife would have engaged in at that time. But since they are classified she is not allowed to see them. And no one else is allowed to see them.
Gilowska can see the charges only if the vetting court decides to allow her to see them. It can also decide that she not see them.
But now that she has been dismissed from her position as Minister of Finance, the case that was filed to the vetting court will be dropped unless the vetting court itself decides that it wants to proceed with the case. If the vetting court decides to not proceed with the case, Gilowska will never see the evidence against their.
Gilowska claims that she was a subject to blackmail and that the case against her was brought because she made efforts to amend the tax laws and the amendments that she wanted to make would have hurt the Polish fuel Mafia. If there was in fact an overt effort by a third parties to have her dismissed and ruined they have likely succeeded because she has been removed from her office, reputation ruined, and she will never be able to see the evidence that was brought against her. And because the documents are classified the general public will never be sure whether she was innocent or guilty.
Leader of the political party Law and Justice, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, stated publicly that Zyta Gilowska was subject to pressure.
But hell hath no fury like Zyta Gilowska scorned. She is fighting and she seems to have the Polish journalists support in this matter.
Former Prime Minister Joseph Oleksy had a long battle with the vetting court and at the end he called the procedure a political farce. But because of Joseph Oleksy ' s Communist background, he never received the sympathy of the general public and definitely not of the Polish media. Zyta Gilowska ' s case is much different because she is generally well liked by people in Poland.
Andrzej Lepper, leader of the political party Samoobrona, whose views on financial matters are definitely not in line with those of Zyta Gilowska and whose political goals would definitely be hindered if Zyta Gilowska ' s policies were to be put in place, has even lent support to Gilowska ' s plight. http://www.radio.com.pl/polonia/article.asp?tId=38346 Deputy PM Lepper puzzled over finance minister dismissal
The Minister of Internal Security, Wasserman, said that the law is not perfect. And, as a matter of interest, changes to the vetting Law have been sitting in the Polish parliament for some time and have not been on acted upon.
The Prime Minister commented on the timing of this case. He said the case was brought at the time that Zyta Gilowska was starting to make major changes. He said that this could be relevant or it could not be relevant.
In spite of his comments and his stated support of Zyta Gilowska to the point where he said that after this was cleared he would hope that she would consider returning to the government's, it was actually the rapid dismissal of Gilowska by the Polish Prime Minister that put her in the box that she is in. Once he dismissed her the requirement that the case go forward in the vetting court was eliminated and with that was eliminated Gilowska ' s ability to defend herself in court unless the court itself decides to move the case forward. Even Andrzej Lepper questioned the rapid dismissal of Zyta Gilowska by the Prime Minister. http://www.radio.com.pl/polonia/article.asp?tId=38346 Deputy PM Lepper puzzled over finance minister dismissal
The evidence against Zyta Gilowska was reportedly filed by the husband of one of her neighbor friends. Journalists have been trying to find this husband and wife combination but to date the people are making themselves scarce and reporters have not been able to try to question them. But the hunt goes on as the reporters try to get to the bottom and see what prompted this battle in Poland's dirty political war.
