by
Martin Banks
The “Grupa Spiskowa” is an informal organisation that has existed in Poland since the late 1980s, and which has been accused of assassinating targeted politicians and businessmen.
Their alleged “hit list” over recent years has included the former vice-speaker of the Polish Sejm Andrzej Lepper; the former Sejm deputy, Henryk Michalak; police general Marek Popala; Professor Janusz Wara-Wasowski, and the independent lawyer, Roza Jarska.
The Russian-made Tu-154 jet carrying Kaczynski, his wife and a host of other top officials crashed in heavy fog as it attempted to land at an airfield near Smolensk on April 10, 2010.
The delegation was flying to Smolensk to mark the 70th anniversary of the 1940 Katyn massacre of thousands of Polish officers by Soviet secret police. All 96 people aboard the plane died.
In the autumn of 2012, the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita claimed that traces of explosives had been discovered in the plane’s debris. Military prosecutors denied the claims, saying the final results of chemical tests would be made public in six months.
Russian and Polish investigators carried out a joint investigation from February to March last year in response to speculation that the late Polish president could have been the victim of a conspiracy to blow up his plane with a bomb.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in December that the investigation had been extended until April 2014 and the wreckage of the plane would be handed over to Poland upon its completion.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who leads Poland's opposition Law and Justice party,said recently that he believed his brother was assassinated, and an unofficial investigation by his party concluded that there were two explosions before the plane crashed in heavy fog near the runway.
While many in Poland find the assertions ridiculous, there is widespread disapproval of the Russians absolving themselves of any blame for the crash.
Both the official Russian and Polish investigations have said that pilot error was the main cause of the crash.
But the Polish investigation also said that the actions of the Russian air traffic controllers contributed to the disaster.
However, speaking exclusively to EBR, a former Polish secret service agent, now living in exile from his native Poland, alleges that the “Grupa Spiskowa”, which is made up of former communists, may have been behind the atrocity.
He said, "It acts with the compliance of certain top officials in the Polish administration, who issue orders through the administrative system for the purpose of destroying democracy, securing power and personal enrichment using classic fascist techniques.
"The organisation executes politicians who oppose it, raid and destroy profitable companies, and corruptly siphon off EU funds to finance the organisation."
The official, who declined to be named, added, "Actions by the criminal group have led to the destruction of several prosperous Polish businesses with consequential damage to the Polish national economy."
The source says he has access to notarised documents that give details of assassinations and business raids that have been allegedly been carried out by the “Grupa Spiskowa”.
By: N. Peter Kramer
