Greed rules the world; Czempinski (Poland's former Intelligence chief) arrested

Everything is for sale; good name, hero status.

Poland's former intelligence chief Gromoslaw Czempinski was Wednesday arrested and charged with corruption in a case linked to the privatisation of state firms a decade ago, prosecutors said.

Czempinski, 66, was detained by anti-graft officers in the capital Warsaw, said Leszek Golawski, spokesman for the prosecutor's office in the southern city of Katowice, which is in charge of the probe.

He was then taken to Katowice, charged, and was to remain in custody for the moment, Golawski told reporters.

Four other individuals, including a former Polish treasury aide, were also charged.

Czempinski and the other suspects are believed to have been involved in the siphoning off in 2003 and 2004 of $1 million (740,000 euros) from the privatisation of Poland's flag-carrying airline LOT and 1.4 million euros ($1.9 million) from the sale of power firm Stoen.

LOT has since been taken back into state hands.

Golawski noted that Czempinski was accused specifically of involvement in corruption surrounding the privatisation of Stoen, which was bought by German power giant RWE.

Currently a businessman and co-owner of several consultancies, Czempinski was the general in charge of Poland's UOP intelligence service from 1993 to 1996.

He received an award from the United States' CIA intelligence service, for his role in a 1990 operation on the eve of the Desert Storm offensive to end then Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's occupation of Kuwait.

Just over a year after the fall of Poland's communist regime turned it from a Soviet satellite into a faithful US ally, Czempinski, then a colonel, helped six US agents get out of Iraq

and why do people get so agro when the Kaczynski's wanted to deal with all the corruption?

[quote=pip]and why do people get so agro when the Kaczynski's wanted to deal with all the corruption?

This is the tip of the iceberg...Look at all major Polish companies and note what person are involved....I get so angry and then people tell me to invest in Poland...don't think so...

absolutely. which still boggles my mind that many Poles are so against the Kaczynski gov't. He wants to attack this head on. I suppose those with the most to lose, namely the media, are the ones that portray him(them) in a bad light--and because it is on t.v. people believe it is true.

they get agro with him for other reasons.

Or maybe people who have too much to lose get agro with him too. what kind of language is that anyways lol get agro;)

Get agricultural like Leper.

it is native english which i speak fluently

Although the CAB (anti-corruption bureau) was a good idea in theory, its powers already existed; I was working closely with the police department at the time, and creating the CAB simply meant removing those policemen from the force and putting them into a political department with a politician at the top. That meant that instead of investigating the crimes the police thought were important, they had to investigate the people the Kaczynscy felt were criminals instead.

That, together with the stories about IPN (national archive) and that "Walesa was a collaborator" is why people didn't like the Kaczynskis; they told people they wanted to end corruption, and then used their powers to chase personal vendettas from 20 years ago.

interesting. do you think the police are better off now than before Kaczynski was president? I mean is there less corruption within the police force?

I am not knowledgeable enough in Polish politics to have an opinion but it is clear to me that the media has gone on a witch hunt with all things Kaczynski...which makes it crystal clear that they have something to hide.

They're certainly not better off now their pensions have been reduced, and I'm sure a lot of them will be more willing to accept bribes now that their comfortable retirement plans have been smashed.

But I'm talking about 2006, when PiS were in power. Before then corruption of all kinds (in politics, in education, in business) was a police matter. Creating the CAB put a politician in charge of that, so the police had to drop cases involving fake university diplomas, false marriages and illegal land sales, so that they could listen to PO's phones instead, looking for evidence of political corruption. That doesn't help Poland at all.

I have no doubt about that. I was only curious and found a different spelling. Thanks for the lesson.
Don't be so snappy.

...and yet you have one

you meant CBA, didn't you?

Was is not simply,the re-introduction of pre-1989 system of policing. Kaczynski may be opposed to Stalin-ism but not to authoritarianism.

What she actually meant was "AGGRO" unless she is much younger than I imagine and not learned to spell correctly like the younger generation of my country. Of course you can find a definition for 'AGRO' on the internet. The same as you will find many other miss spelt words. They are just there for the those unable to spell correctly. Damned liberals.

any update on Czempinski?

why an effective policing (and one that originally wasn't involved in all 'deals' in the spheres of power (administration including the police)) should be anything authoritarian - you are completely brain-programmed on this issue milky - wake up and think for yourself


a voice of reason

The police never really changed that much - they are still generally as bad.

Much of that was due to the Kaczynski's attack on opposition journalists - when you look at how they were spied on, it's no surprise that some of the media does not want them anywhere near power again. Don't forget how they utterly manipulated TVP for their own agenda too - to the point where almost anyone opposing gave up paying for the TV licence.

It's however a common myth among right-wingers in Poland that "the media is against Kaczynski". That only holds true in terms of private television - print media is very much divided somewhat evenly.

right enough

which journalists have been spied upon? two or three? Anna Marszałek? who used to write 'investigative' articles in Rzeczpospolita formerly when all 'materials' were delivered to her by the WSI? (Rzyszard Szeremetiew case for example - sure you may not remember it delphi because you most probably weren't here yet)