Siemoniak refutes corruption slur in latest tape affair episode

Siemoniak has filed a complaint with the District Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw, after weekly Do Rzeczy published fragments of what it claims is an illicitly recorded conversation between former president Aleksander Kwaśniewski and Democratic Left Alliance MP Ryszard Kalisz.

The excerpts include passages where Kalisz describes a meeting with former military counterintelligence chief General Janusz Nosek, in which the latter apparently claimed he had evidence of corruption, implicating Siemoniak.

“The published fragments strike at my good name, and material has reached the public which I cannot remain indifferent to,” Siemoniak has said.

“Never and in no way have I been associated with any matter of corruption or irregularities.

“I have never violated the law while carrying out the duties of the minister of defense,” he added.

Several ministers and other prominent members of Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz's government were forced to resign last month when a 2014 wire-tapping scandal returned to haunt Kopacz's Civic Platform party.

The illegal recordings were made at two Warsaw restaurants over a protracted period. An investigation is ongoing into who is was responsible for making the recordings. (nh)