A legal representative of the Smolensk air disaster family victims will file a request with the Military Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw today to force Poland's defence minister to give evidence into the causes of the crash which killed 96, including president Lech Kaczynski.

Lawyer Rafal Rogalksi wants Defence Minister Bogdan Klich to (right) explain why he did not suspend flights by the 36th Special Aviation Regiment - responcible for the transportation of Poland's top politicians - after recommending in February this year that the fleet could not garauntee the safety of those on board.

The report, says Rogalksi, noted the poor state of aircraft used to take Poland's head of state and top government ministers to international events, including the doomed TU 154 plane which crashed in Smolensk on April 10.

While the Ministry of Defense says it is willing to give evidence to the current investigation into the causes of the tragedy, a spokesman has said that lawyer Rogalksi had misrepresented the contents of Minister Klich's February report.

“The point of the report was to show the necessity of having more aircraft,” says Janusz Sejmej from Defence Ministry, in order to be able to efficiently transport top politicians to intternational summits and other events abroad. He did not say that the fleet should be grounded, said the spokesman. (pg/mg)

Source: IAR

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