Transcripts of the black box recordings of the final moments of the doomed TU 154 plane which crashed in Smolensk on April 10 will be released later today, says Poland’s government.
After a meeting of the National Security Council, government spokesperson Pawel Gras said the recordings will be released in their complete form – in Polish, English and Russian - even though the Russian side yesterday said that to do so would be in violation of the 1948 Chicago Convention.
Earlier, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that though Poland must respect internationally conventions, there is a special get out clause which states that information can be released in special circumstances. He said his government will take the consequences of its actions.
"These materials contain an accurate transcript of all that took place in the cockpit, which includes both conversations of the crew, communication with the control tower and with the crew which had earlier touched down on the airport in Smolensk," he informed Tuesday afternoon.
Summoned by acting president Bronisław Komorowski in Warsaw today, the National Security Council discussed the recordings of the black boxes, following the arrival back in Warsaw of Interior Minister Jerzy Miller, who flew in from Moscow yesterday, bringing with him a copy of the contents and transcripts of the recording devices retrieved from the TU 154.
The opposition Law and Justice party has been against the playing of the recordings at the National Security Council, which is made up of acting president Bronilsaw Komorowski, PM Donald Tusk other ministers and party leaders.
“The council is not competent to discuss this issue”, said Law and Justice spokesperson Mariusz Błaszczak.
Head of the Law and Justice, former prime minister Jarosław Kaczyński refused to take part in the meeting as he believes the data should first be released to the families of those who perished in the April 10 tragedy and not politicians.
Plenipotentiary of some of the families of the air crash victims, Rafał Rogalski, whose attendance was backed by Kaczyński, was not allowed to take part in the session. (ab/pg)
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