The Administration and Interior Commission plans to seek clarification about Janina Ochojska’s statements during a direct briefing with the head of the Ministry of Interior and Administration and the Commander-in-Chief of the Border Guard. Deputy Chief of the Commission Tomasz Szymański (KO) told PAP that such a meeting is expected to take place to address the concerns raised.
On Friday, Janina Ochojska spoke on TOK FM about the situation at the Polish-Belarusian border. She suggested that forest rangers in Poland may have helped remove the bodies of migrants found along the border and that some of these remains could have been buried in a mass grave.
Government spokesman Piotr Müller was asked on Wednesday to comment on Ochojska’s remarks. He described them as part of a fabric of lies crafted by Russian and Belarusian propaganda and warned that such statements could be exploited by foreign actors.
What’s more, he noted that some Western media outlets, despite limited understanding of the issue or influenced by Moscow, might repeat such unverified claims. He implied that Mrs. Ochojska would likely retract these assertions if pressed to present evidence.
— said Müller.
He added that leaders of opposition parties allied with the European coalition in the European Parliament elections should distance themselves clearly from statements that could harm Poland’s reputation.
If there is any possibility of digging at the border, the Interior Minister and the Border Guard Commander-in-Chief will be questioned about it due to the significance of this information, stated Szymański.
According to him, “Ms. Ochojska may possess information not yet available to the committee members.”
The aim is to determine with certainty whether such a situation occurred, and this issue will be raised at the Administration and Home Affairs Committee meeting because words or actions in this area could have serious consequences, Szymański emphasized.
He added that the commission intends to confront the information from the Ministry of Interior and Administration and the Border Guard with the knowledge claimed by Janina Ochojska or non-governmental organizations.
Borys Budka, the head of the KO club, also commented on the government spokesperson’s statement in an interview with PAP.
Budka urged Prime Minister Morawiecki and President Glapiński to apologize to Polish citizens for the inflation and the state of stores across the country.
Let them address real problems instead of creating issues that do not exist, Budka added.
Controversial remarks from Ochojska in TOK FM interview
During a TOK FM interview, Ochojska referred to data from the Granica Group, which reported that 37 people had died at the border on both the Polish and Belarusian sides.
Ochojska said she believed there are many more victims linked to this border crisis. She suggested that some bodies might have been buried or disposed of after access to the border was restricted, noting that nearly 300 people were reported missing.
She also questioned whether forest rangers could have been responsible for disposing of the bodies.
She expressed that there are still bodies in the woods, but some may have been removed. She explained that forest rangers were once appointed from various regions of the country and questioned their role during the difficult period at the border. She stressed that her statements were not formal accusations but hypotheses about possible events.
In response to this, at the request of Prosecutor General Zbigniew Ziobro, the Warsaw Prosecutor’s Office opened a probe into possible defamation of state forests.
tkwl/PAP
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