'Exorcisms necessary in Poland' says opposition MP

Law and Justice party supporters outside Presidential Palace in Warsaw on Thursday marking the 4th anniversary of the Smolensk air disaster: photo - PAP/Bartłomiej Zborowski

“We live in a country whose civilisation is based on Christianity,” said MP Mariusz Blaszczak, who heads the Law and Justice party caucus in parliament.

“Exorcisms are necessary,” he insisted. “A lot of people are possessed.

“I cannot start listing names, as that would set a precedent,” he added.

Law and Justice leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski – twin brother of the late president Lech Kaczynski who died alongside 95 others in the Smolensk air disaster in western Russia four years ago - spoke at the gathering outside the Presidential Palace, after the exorcisms were carried out by Father Stanislaw Malkowski.

In spite of official Polish and Russian reports blaming dense fog and human error for the crash, Kaczynski's party has consistently argued that sabotage cannot be ruled out.

“If the truth is to win, we must win,” Kaczynski said on Thursday,

“When that day comes to pass, victory will come and the truth will liberate Poles,” he claimed after a poll showed that one-in-four Poles believe that President Lech Kaczynski was “assassinated”.

The disaster in western Russia has been another thorn in relations between Russia and Poland, with the wreck of the TU-154 still not been delivered back to Poland, as investigators in Moscow continue a probe into the 96 deaths.

Poland’s own investigation is set to close next year, says Attorney General Andrzej Seremet.

“We are trying to draw the time limits for our investigation, and they become clearer every day. A few months - this is the most appropriate deadline,” he said this week.

Seremet dismissed claims by the Law and Justice party that an explosion on board the TU-154 was responsible for the crash, though he added that Russian air traffic control could have to take some of the blame. (pg/nh)

source: PAP/IAR