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UPDATE: Polish PM says probe under way into grenade incident

19.12.2022 19:15
Poland’s prime minister has said that last week’s grenade incident in which the country’s highest ranking police officer was injured by a gift from Ukraine is under “detailed analysis” so that the right decisions can be made in the case.  
Polands Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki speaks to reporters in the southwestern town of Oława on Monday, December 19, 2022.
Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki speaks to reporters in the southwestern town of Oława on Monday, December 19, 2022. PAP/Maciej Kulczyński

Mateusz Morawiecki made the statement at a news conference on Monday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.

He told the media in the southwestern town of Oława: “Very detailed analyses are under way to allow us to draw conclusions fast” about what happened “so that the interior minister and I are able to assess the incident and make the right decisions.”   

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Meanwhile, Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński said in a tweet on Monday that his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Monastyrsky had offered to come to Poland to help solve the case, the PAP news agency reported.

Kamiński added: “The visit will take place soon. Meanwhile, to put an end to media speculation, I rule out dismissing the police chief.”  

Grenade incident

Last Friday, officials confirmed that prosecutors had launched an investigation into an explosion at Poland's National Police Headquarters in which the country’s police chief Jarosław Szymczyk was injured by a gift he received during a recent visit to Ukraine.  

A spokesman for the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw, Marcin Saduś, told reporters that “due to the nature, location and character of the incident, it is not possible to provide information about the probe’s findings at this point."

A day earlier, Poland’s interior ministry issued a statement saying: “Yesterday at 7:50 a.m. there was an explosion in a room next to the office of the police chief. One of the presents the police chief received during his working visit to Ukraine on December 11 and 12 exploded.”   

The ministry added that the police chief, Jarosław Szymczyk, had met with the heads of Ukraine’s police force and state emergency services during his visit and the gift was from one of those Ukrainian officials.

It did not specify what kind of gift Szymczyk received during his trip to Ukraine.

Police chief hospitalised with 'minor injuries'

The statement also said that Szymczyk was "taken to hospital with minor injuries" after the blast, the PAP news agency reported.

A civilian employee at Poland's National Police Headquarters (KGP) also suffered minor injuries, but did not require hospital treatment, according to officials.

“The Polish side has asked the Ukrainian side to provide an explanation,” the ministry said in its statement.

'Used-up grenade launcher tubes' gifted by Ukraine

Szymczyk said in an interview with the Rzeczpospolita newspaper, published on Monday, that during his visit to Ukraine last week he had met with the head of Ukraine’s police force, Gen. Ihor Klymenko, and the chief of the country’s state emergency services, Gen. Serhiy Kruk.

He added that both Klymenko and Kruk had presented him with "used-up grenade launcher tubes" as gifts. 

Szymczyk told Rzeczpospolita: “We were given assurances that this was used-up equipment that didn’t contain explosives,” Szymczyk said, adding that "for the same reason, the tubes weren't reported" to border officials on the way back to Poland. 

'A powerful explosion'

Szymczyk said that “a powerful explosion” occurred at his office at Poland's National Police Headquarters in Warsaw after he arrived for work on the morning of Wednesday, December 14, and attempted to move the used grenade launchers to a different part of the room.

“I was stunned,” he added.

Asked if he would resign from his role as Poland's police chief, the officer said: “As of today I see no reason to resign.”

He added: “At the same time, I am aware that ultimately it’s for the interior minister and the prime minister to decide, and I will accept their decision.”

‘A public official must be prepared for dismissal’

Meanwhile, Polish government spokesman Piotr Müller told reporters on Monday: “We need to wait calmly for the results of the investigation, because it may reveal information that we don’t have at the moment.”

He added, as quoted by the PAP news agency: “Every public official, every minister, every person in a high public office must be ready to resign if some improper action or conduct is discovered. And so a dismissal is always possible. I wouldn’t rule it out in this case, either."

(pm/gs)

Source: PAP, tvp.info