Prosecutor dismissed after Belarus opposition bank details gaff

Krzysztof Karsznicki; photo - PAP/Pawel Supernak

Poland’s attorney general Andrzej Seremet informed Tuesday afternoon that Karsznicki’s deputy, Anna Wiśniewska has also been dismissed.

Last week it was revealed that the Attorney General’s international office released details of Ales Bialacki’s bank account, held in Poland, to Belarusian lawyers attempting to prosecute the head of the Viasna human rights NGO on tax fraud charges.

Opposition activists in Belarus claim however that the charges are trumped up in an attempt to muzzle opposition to authoritarian president Aleksander Lukashenko.

Last week, Poland’s foreign minister Radek Sikorski issued an apology via his Twitter account saying, “I apologize on behalf of Poland for this reprehensible mistake, We are going to double our efforts to help democracy in Belarus.”

Poland has styled itself as the leader of European criticism of the Lukashenko regime, especially since the 19 December presidential elections last year which international observers believed to be rigged.

Mass arrests followed a crackdown by Belarusian authorities against protestors. (pg)