photo - East News

The decision to bury the late Lech Kaczynski and his wife in Wawel Castle in Krakow brought people onto the streets last night, in demonstrations both for and against.

The decision to bury the late president in Krakow and not Warsaw has brought to an end the political truce which unitl now has characterised the period of mourning in Poland after the Smolensk air crash killed 96 on Saturday.

Film director Andrzej Wajda - director of the movie Katyn - called it “a most unfortunate decision.”

Yesterday evening police say around 2,000 protestors gathered in Krakow’s city centre saying “Warsaw for presidents, Krakow for kings,” referring to Wawel Castle as being the final destination for many of Poland’s kings in the past. It is also the place where Jozef Pilsudski is buried, the man who led Poland to independence in 1918 and ruled over the nation until his death in 1935.

A counter demonstration then gathered with banners saying “Thank you cardinal,” in the belief that Krakow’s Cardinal Dziwisz was behind the decision to bring the presidential couple to Wawel.

A small protest against Lech Kaczynski being buried in Krakow was also organised in Warsaw.

Yesterday, acting president Bronislaw Komorowski said that the government was not behind the decision. Cardinal Dziwisz last night said the decision lay with Lech Kaczynski’s family.

Local Civic Platform MP Jaroslaw Gowin has supported the idea, however. "I see this as a symbolic tribute to all victims of the disaster at Smolensk, and those who died 70 years ago in the Katyn, " he told the Rzeczpospolita daily. " He also called for a cessation of further protests. (pg)

Audio by John Beauchamp