Czeslaw KiszczakCommunist Interior Minister, Czeslaw Kiszczak, faces allegations in connection to the 1983 murder of Grzegorz Przemyk, a young, anti-Communist poet.
Prosecutors at Poland's Institute of National Remembrance have filed charges against Kiszczak of sabotaging the investigation which followed the boy's death. According to the prosecutor, Kiszczak did all he could to shield communist functionaries from responsibility for Przemyk’s death.
Kiszczak’s testimony was taken today, spokesman for the Institute of National Remembrance, Andrzej Arseniuk, informed the press.
“[The former Minister] was accused of transgressing his authority, not fulfilling his professional duties properly and of obstructing criminal investigation into the death of Grzegorz Przemyk, says Arseniuk. In 1983, The Ministry of Internal Affairs made the claim that Przemyk died due to medical negligence while being transported to the hospital.
Kiszczak, who was one of the most important communist regime functionaries at the time, pleads not guilty and refuses to provide any explanations. Twenty other former communist functionaries have already been charged with obstructing the investigation into Przemyk's death.
Przemyk was beaten to death in 1983 by functionaries of the Milicja Obywatelska, the ‘Citizen’s Militia,’ and his funeral, at Warsaw’s historic Powazki cemetery, was attended by the so-called Solidarity priest, Father Jerzy Popieluszko. The funeral turned into an anti-Communist demonstration. (jn/mmj)
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