Thursday, July 13, 2006

Poland's ex-FinMin to be tried on charges of lying about Communist-erasecret-police links
WARSAW. JULY 12. INTERFAX CENTRAL EUROPE - The saga of Poland's former
finance minister and deputy prime minister, Zyta Gilowska, took a fresh
turn Wednesday, as an appeals court ruled to go through with her trial
on charges she had lied about her non-cooperation with Communist-era
secret services.
Gilowska, who was forced to resign from both posts after the charges
were brought against her, later saw the trial dropped, as the court
ruled she had become a private person. As markets titillated amid
political instability brought about by her departure, the former finance
minister appealed against the decision, saying it deprived her of a
chance to clear her name.
While the appeals court ruled the first court decision was correct on
the basis of the evidence available at the time, and thus rejected
Gilowska's appeal, it also said she would be tried as an "extraordinary
case," due to her willingness to subject herself to the proceedings.
Gilowska's case has created "a highly socially damaging impression that
a person as important as a deputy prime minister can be so easily
deprived of her post," the court said in the justification for its
ruling.
The court ruling could, in theory, pave the way for Gilowska's return to
government, as Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski said he had "an
agreement with [the newly-appointed] Finance Minister" Stanislaw Kluza
to allow for such an arrangement, in case she is cleared of the
allegations.
Gilowska's departure was followed by the short-lived tenure of Finance
Minister Pawel Wojciechowski, who was replaced by Kluza, following
Jaroslaw Kaczynski's appointment to the prime minister post.
Kluza's appointment eased the nerves of market players worried about the
resignation of popular Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, as well
as the previous departure of the fiscal-reform minded - and highly
regarded - Gilowska.
The still-to-be-sworn-in prime minister, whose twin brother Lech
Kaczynski is Poland's president, is scheduled to meet with Gilowska,
whose commitment to fiscal responsibility he has vowed to maintain,
Wednesday afternoon.
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