Ceremonies and events are taking place all over Poland today to mark the anniversary of the Smolensk air disaster, which killed President Lech Kaczynski, First Lady Maria and 94 others in western Russia exactly one year ago today.
Online reporting by Peter Gentle
13.35 - This afternoon Law and Justice members will be holding a special congress in the Palace of Culture in Warsaw. Aferwards they will march to the Presidential Palace where party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski is expected to make a speech at around 16.15 CET. A special concert will also begin at that time in Warsaw.
13.20 - Politicians from the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) have laid flowers under a plaque in the Labour Ministry dedicated to party member Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka, who died in the tragedy. "She was a person who did not divide people into different religions, political opinion, party affiliation or sexual orientation," said SLD leader Grzegorz Napieralski.
12.46 - Pope Benedict has issued a statement this morning from the Vatican: "Dear Polish nation, brothers and sisters. I join with you in a special prayer as you commemorate the anniversary of the plane crash near Smolensk which killed the president of your country and many others on their way to the Katyn ceremony. " (PAP)
12.20 - The opposition Law and Justice party has issued a statement saying that only 10 members of their delegation were allowed into the grounds of the Presidential Palace this morning by police to place flowers and candles in memory of the many party members who died in the disaster. Two female party members were roughed up by police during the dispute that followed, claims Law and Justice. ""We demand an explanation," reads the statement.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski greets supporters in Warsaw this morning, as they chanted "Jaroslaw, Jaroslaw"; photo - PAP - Police are currently estimating that around 3,000 people are outside the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, many calling for an international investigation into the disaster and the resignation of PM Tusk. The rightwing niezalezna.pl web site, part of the
Gazeta Polska group, claims 15,000 are attending and has said that other media outlets reporting only 2,000 are "liars".
11.52 - Georgian First Lady Sandra Saakashvili has laid flowers at Wawel Cathedral in Krakow in memory of the late president. President Saakashvili was a close ally of President Kaczynski.
11.40 - Over 220 family members and others have set off for Russia this morning by train to take part in the 71st anniversary ceremonies dedicated to the 1940 Katyn massacre, when 22,000 Polish officers were murdered by Stalin's NKVD security services. The train left from Warsaw to Smolensk at 10.55 am and will arrive in western Russia tomorrow. Both Russian and Polish presidents will attend the ceremony.
President Komorowski leads ceremony at Powazki cemetery in Warsaw; photo - PAPCardinal Dziwisz
has told the Mass in Krakow that, "the conflict and divisions which opened up after the tragedy are fleeting and deviod of deeper meaning in the face of the ultimate issues of life and death".
11.10 - Reporter Magda Jensen looks at the political row over where to situate a monument to the late President Kaczynski and other victims. Hear the piece here.
11.01 - Protesters in Krakow, who are part of a demonstration organised by the right-wing Gazeta Polska, are handing out leaflets demanding the resignation of PM Tusk and for an international investigation to be established to look into the causes of the Smolensk disaster.
10.43 - A ceremony has now began at Warsaw's historic Powazki cemetery in Warsaw, led by President Bronislaw Komorowski by the special memorial to the Smolensk victims which he unveiled last November. "For many, the world shattered on 10 April," Komorowski says.
President Komorowski, EP president Jerzy Buzek and PM Tusk lay wreaths to the dead in parliament this morning; photo - PAP - "Your pain is, and was, our pain. Your hope is our hope," Cardinal Dziwisz tells members of families of the victims, including Lech Kaczynski's daughter Marta, at the special mass in Krakow.
10.15 - Just a reminder that we will be having a special live broadcast on the events today starting at 14.00 CET. You can hear the one-hour programme via the radio player on the righthand side of thenews.pl home page. There will be another live broadcast at 19.00 CET.
10.06 - Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, a long-time close aid to John Paul II, is now leading a special Mass at Wawel Cathedral. Meanwhile, former prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the twin brother of the late president, has laid flowers outside the Presidential Palace in Warsaw.
09.47 - The famous Zygmunt Bell in Wawel Castle rings out across Krakow in memory of the dead. The bell has been hanging in the castle since 1521 and weighs 13 tonnes. It only tolls on very special occasions, such as national holidays.
09.44 - It is being reported that some people are trying to sell candles and red and white tulips outside the Presidential Palace. Police have already said that any trading in Smolensk related material is banned today. Flags are said to be seeling for 25 zloty (6 euros).
9.35 - Prime Minister Donald Tusk and other high ranking politicians lay a wreath in the Sejm, the lower house of parliament, to the elected representatives who died in the tragedy.
09.34 - Our reporter Michal Kubicki looks at the political struggle over Lech Kaczynski's memory and the investigations into the disaster. Hear his piece here.
Leader of the Law and Justice party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, twin brother of the late president, outside the Presidential Palace this morning; photo - PAP - The daughter of the late president, Marta Kaczynska has already visited the tomb of her parents in Wawel Castle in Krakow. She was accompanied by her uncle, Col. Konrad Mackiewicz and Lech Kaczynski's cousin, Jan Tomaszewski.
08.54 - The names of all 96 victims are being read out: President of Poland Lech Kaczynski, First Lady Maria Kaczynska... Over a thousand people have gathered outside the palace.
08.41 - The exact time of the crash. Sirens sound outside Presidential Palace. President Bronislaw Komorowski, Prime Minister Donald Tusk and leaders of the lower and upper houses of parliament Grzegorz Schetyna and Bogdan Borusewicz lay wreaths under the plaque in memory of the 96 who died at the Armed Forces Cathedral on Dluga street near the Old Town in Warsaw. The plaque has the names of all those who perished in the crash, their date of birth and position.
8.15 - Official ceremonies are mostly being held in the capital, Warsaw, while a demonstration organised by the right wing Gazeta Polska and other events are being organised in Krakow, where the late president is buried in Wawel Castle.
A group of around 100 had already gathered outside the Presidential Palace in Warsaw by 7.00 am this morning, some dressed in black, others demonstrating against what they see as the government’s negligence in the handling of the investigation into the causes of the disaster.
A ecumenical service began at Warsaw’s Okecie airport at 7.20 this morning, attended exclusively for family members who lost loved ones in the tragedy.
The official ceremonies begin at 08.41 CET, the exact time when the plane crashed near Smolensk.