2024-10-25 14:17 update: 2024-10-27, 21:50
Photo PAP/Paweł Supernak
Two Polish MEPs have notified prosecutors of an alleged crime committed by Henryk Kowalczyk, a former environment minister who, according to them, misspent public money to promote his party before the local elections in 2018.
MEP Michal Szczerba of Poland's ruling Civic Coalition (KO) said on Friday that he and his fellow MEP Dariusz Jonski had filed the notification with the National Prosecutor's Office.
The case concerns the period of 2018 shortly before the local election campaign during which Kowalczyk is said to have commissioned meetings with local government officials focusing on the government's Clean Air programme, which however were allegedly used to promote the then ruling party Law and Justice (PiS).
According to Szczerba, in this way, Kowalczyk paid for "an illegal election canvassing for PiS candidates."
The Berm company chosen by Kowalczyk organised meetings in nearly all Polish municipalities, 2,474 in total, Szczerba said.
"We have e-mails of the Berm company employees, who described each event and we have full knowledge of what went on during those meetings," Jonski said.
According to him, the meetings were "a brazen campaign of PiS politicians in local elections paid for with public money."
"We're talking about the amount of PLN 4.6 million (EUR 1.06 mln) here," he said.
Szczerba added that 41 PiS election coordinators brokered the Berm-organised meetings with local governments, as confirmed in an email from Kowalczyk in which he instructed them to do so. (PAP)
jd/jch
