Top politicians at funeral of slain Polish mayor

Thousands gathered outside the Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Gdańsk, northern Poland, where the service for the city’s mayor, Paweł Adamowicz, was to be held at midday.

Adamowicz, 53, died on Monday from severe wounds inflicted by a knifeman during a high-profile charity event a day earlier.

Among those expected to attend the funeral service on Saturday were Poland's President Andrzej Duda, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and a string of former presidents and premiers, as well as a number of foreign politicians, public broadcaster Polish Radio reported.

Duda has declared a national day of mourning in honour of the murdered politician, to be observed from 5 pm on Friday to 7 pm on Saturday.

Adamowicz’s killing, which made international headlines, caused shock in Poland and prompted calls for an end to hate speech in a country which is bitterly divided politically.

In the wake of the murder, investigators were following up on leads suggesting that the assailant had psychiatric problems.

Poland’s interior minister has said that the 27-year-old knifeman, detained at the scene of the killing at a charity event in Gdańsk, was a repeat offender who was in the past convicted of armed robberies.

Duda said after the mayor's death: "Hostility and violence have brought the most tragic result and pain. This is something we must not accept."

(pk)