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Two senior officials at the Public Prosecutor General’s Office in Poland have lost their jobs over the disclosure of bank account information that led to the arrest of prominent human rights defender Ales Byalyatski in Belarus, BelaPAN said.
Krzysztof Karsznicki, director of the International Cooperation Department, resigned his position and Anna Wisniewska, deputy head of the department, was dismissed, Prosecutor General Andrzej Seremet announced on Tuesday.
“I'm downright sad as a human being,” Mr. Seremet said of the incident. He noted that there had been no ill will on the prosecutors' part, only “reprehensible negligence.”
Mr. Seremet also said that the International Cooperation Department would now be headed by Deputy Prosecutor General Marzena Kowalska, and that he had suspended Anna Adamiak, the department’s officer personally in charge of the Byalyatski case, who Mr. Seremet said may be subjected to disciplinary penalties following an internal probe.
The 48-year-old Byalyatski, chairman of a human rights organization called Vyasna (Spring) and vice president of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), was arrested in Minsk on August 4 and accused of large-scale tax evasion on the basis of information about his bank accounts abroad. He may be sentenced to up seven years in prison.
Mr. Byalyatski’s associates insist that the money in his bank accounts abroad should not be viewed as his income, as it was contributed by various foundations and intended to finance Vyasna’s activities. Vyasna used the money to provide legal assistance to people convicted on politically driven charges and to help them pay fines.
Maciej Kujawski, spokesman for the Public Prosecutor General’s Office said on August 11 that the Office provided Belarusian authorities with Mr. Byalyatski’s bank account information in June, thereby granting Belarus’ legal assistance request under an interstate agreement signed in 1994.
“The content of that request did not include any information that would indicate that it was about an opposition figure or opposition activities,” Mr. Kujawski said.
The Belarusian authorities were reportedly given information about Mr. Byalyatski’s account at ING Bank.
The Polish foreign ministry said last week that it had warned the Public Prosecutor General’s Office against answering such requests from the Belarusian regime, as Minsk could use the information to arrest opposition and civil society activists.
"Unfortunately, they [the warnings] were ignored," Mr. Seremet said.
Belarus’ authorities took advantage of international cooperation in criminal matters “for repressive action against the country’s own citizens,” Marcin Bosacki, spokesman for the Polish foreign ministry, said in a statement.
Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski issued an apology on Friday on behalf of Poland and vowed to redouble efforts to support democracy in Belarus.
