Poland's ex-President Lech Walesa Was Soviet Informant, Documents Suggest
- 8 years ago
Recently seized documents show that Poland's former president and Solidarity founder Lech Walesa was a paid informant for the communist-era secret security service from 1970 to 1976, the head ofPoland's history institute said Thursday.
A legend of Poland's successful struggle to topple communism,Walesa has previously acknowledged signing a commitment to be an informant, but has insisted he never acted on it.
In 2000 he was cleared by a special court, which said it found no evidence of collaboration.
The head of the stateNational Remembrance Institute, Lukasz Kaminski, said that documentsseized this week from the home of the last communist interior minister, the late Gen. Czeslaw Kiszczak, include a commitment to provide information that is signed with Walesa's name and codename, "Bolek."
A legend of Poland's successful struggle to topple communism,Walesa has previously acknowledged signing a commitment to be an informant, but has insisted he never acted on it.
In 2000 he was cleared by a special court, which said it found no evidence of collaboration.
The head of the stateNational Remembrance Institute, Lukasz Kaminski, said that documentsseized this week from the home of the last communist interior minister, the late Gen. Czeslaw Kiszczak, include a commitment to provide information that is signed with Walesa's name and codename, "Bolek."