WHAT GOVERNMENT, SUCH AN EXAM

ARTUR STELMASIAK

How can one draw conclusions on the causes of the Smolensk catastrophe if it turns out that we are not certain whom we buried in coffins soldered by the Russians?

‘I want to state, not only in my opinion, the country has passed it exam well’ – said the prime minister Donald Tusk a few days after the Smoleńsk catastrophe. He was accompanied by the Health Minister at that time, Ewa Kopacz, assuring that the whole Smoleńsk land had been sieved through a sieve, and every fragment of human body extracted from it, was genetically tested. What is more, the control over the body sections of bodies was carried out by her personally. Unfortunately, from the perspective of time their lies are coming out more and more. First it turned out that in the Smoleńsk mud it is still possible to find fragments of victims’ bodies. Whereas now the exhumation query on Polish graveyards shows that we do not even know where the victims’ bodies are buried. According to Wojciech Walentynowicz the person who was buried in the grave of his mother is not Anna Walentynowicz. And although – at the time of closing the edition of the ‘Sunday’ – procurators did not confirm this information officially, they have already announced other exhumations.

Coffins on Russian rights

Unfortunately, it turned out about which we had written a few times in the ‘Sunday’ in 2011. According to our information, the documentation from the Russian section of bodies was simply falsified. If it seemed to somebody that the Polish country had passed an exam at least on the level of a good funeral company, he must get rid of even these illusions today. Who is responsible for this state of things?

One could blame the Russians. However, one could not do it if Polish clerks and representatives of authorities were looking at their hands. Instead of controlling or verifying all evidences and documents, which were passed on to us from Moscow, the government was behaving as if it was concealing Russian collusions. It is not possible to explain the fact in a different way that the director of the Office of the Prime Minister, minister Tomasz Arabski who was first responsible for the catastrophic state of preparation of the whole visit, after the catastrophe he did very much to hush his neglects. However, one of ways of behaviour aiming at thinking is the fact that it was him who said families that it was impossible to open the sealed coffins. He intimated that he forbade this Russian law. – it seemed to me that the minister Arabski was not saying to us, but to the Russians. I understood it as if he had said to them: ‘Put in what you have, and we will not allow for opening the coffins – mentions Ewa Kochanowska, a widow of the Chairman of Civic Rights. If it was not a deliberate breach of law by the minister Arabski, he abused his competence at least. There is also the open question: what was the purpose of this unlawful directive? However, the fact is that in most cases no sections of bodies were carried out, neither in Russia nor in Poland which was another breach of law. Strange decisions of the polish authorities and neglects of the military procurators result in a situation that we do not know till now what the cause of the death of our citizens was, as well as where they were buried. Only coffins which were opened just after the arrival in Poland, belonged to the presidential couple. After long months of legal battles, also the exhumations of Przemysław Gosiewski, Zbigniew Wassermann and Janusz Kurtyka were done. In all these cases many divergences between the documentation sent from Russia and the factual state of bodies were uncovered.

Hearing of Kopacz and Tusk?

The coffins with the body of Stefan Melak and minister Tomasz Merta are also waiting for their time. Serious gaps are in the photographic documentation and materials concerning investigations of DNA samples. They were described in a few documentations, the same sample in a different way at every time. Once as investigation of muscle, another time bones. Another document states that investigations of DNA were not carried out at all. – I really regret that I had not opened the coffin of my husband before the funeral. It turns out that the bodies were being treated with much nonchalance and it was not even ensured that they had been placed in correct graves – Magdalena Merta says regretfully. The Warsaw Military Procurators announce that there are going to be at least four more exhumations. It turns out that most families of the catastrophe victims cannot be sure whose grave are they praying at. – First of all, I would like to determine in which grave my mum is. Then I will be able to bury her where her place is, that is, next to her husband – said Janusz Walentynowicz just after the exhumation. Also other families of the victims have fears. Whereas their lawyers note that in the present scandalous situation there should be exhumation of all bodies, because beside moral tips the good of the whole investigation requires it. The proxy of the Walentynowicz family mecenaz Stefan Hambur also applied to the general procurator so that he would take over the investigation with his personal supervision. He also appealed to procurators for hearing of Donald Tusk and Ewa Kopacz because it is them who are responsible for what today the families of victims are experiencing. – in a few weeks, on 1 October whole Poland will go to the graves of the relatives. I hope that families of the victims are not indifferent to the fact whether their mother or another person will be in their graves – said Ewa Kochanowska during a meeting of the Seym group for the Smoleńsk catastrophe. – Unfortunately, none of us has this certainty.

(AA)

"Niedziela" 40/2012

Editor: Tygodnik Katolicki "Niedziela", ul. 3 Maja 12, 42-200 Czestochowa, Polska
Editor-in-chief: Fr Jaroslaw Grabowski • E-mail: redakcja@niedziela.pl