Poland launches communist witch-hunt to screen govt officials

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
27 Jun 2023 18:53

The law entails that all individuals with ties to the former People's Republic would be prohibited from assuming official posts, and incumbent officials with proven ties would be laid off.

A destroyed Soviet monument, April 27, 2022 (AFP)

Polish authorities have passed a new law to screen government officials that had ties with the former communist government which reigned from 1944 to 1990, Sputnik reported.

The law, which was advertised in the Polish Legal Gazette, entails that all individuals with ties to the former People's Republic would be prohibited from assuming official posts, and incumbent officials with proven ties would be laid off.

The state-run "Institute of National Remembrance" estimates that around 40,000 government officials would be relieved of their duties.

Those accused of ties to the former Polish People's Republic have a deadline of a 30-day duration to deny the allegations; otherwise, they would be laid off from their jobs 15 days after the designated duration is exhausted.

Back in mid-June, Poland completed the installation of the 206-kilometer fence on the border with Belarus, which Warsaw accuses of being behind the migrant crisis that has hit the country.

The electronic system, Warsaw added, works along the entire length of the Polish-Belarusian border.

This comes a year after Poland installed a five-meter-tall fence on the border in order to prevent immigrants from coming into the country. Poland's border guards announced in January 2022 the start of construction of a 186-kilometer (115-mile) fence at the border with Belarus after thousands of migrants from the Middle East streamed to the border in an attempt to cross into the European Union.