Poland Says Russian Air Controllers 'Deliberately' Contributed To Plane Crash That Killed President
Polish prosecutors have accused two Russian air traffic controllers and a third Russian official of deliberately contributing to а 2010 plane crash that killed the Polish president.
Deputy prosecutor Marek Pasionek said in an April 3 statement that new analysis of evidence showed that the two traffic controllers were guilty of "deliberately causing an air traffic catastrophe.”
He said the third Russian official present in the control tower was guilty of "assisting in deliberately causing a catastrophe."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected the claims. "The circumstances of this tragedy have been thoroughly studied, and we cannot agree with such conclusions," he was quoted as saying.
The new accusations reopen an old wound that will likely further strain ties between Russia and Poland.
The April 10, 2010 crash near Smolensk, Russia, killed President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others, many of them top Polish state and military leaders.
The crash has since become a rancorous political issue in Poland, pitting liberals against conservative supporters of Kaczynski, whose twin brother Jaroslaw now heads the ruling Law and Justice party.
