1st victim of Russian jet crash exhumed
Source: Agencies |
August 30, 2011, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
POLAND yesterday exhumed the first victim of last year's plane crash in western Russia, which killed the country's president and 95 others, because of concerns that the Russian autopsy may be faulty.
The Polish state plane carrying President Lech Kaczynski crashed while trying to land in thick fog in the city of Smolensk. Disputes between Warsaw and Moscow over responsibility for the disaster has badly damaged ties between the two.
"Today in the morning the exhumation has taken place and the body of Zbigniew Wassermann was taken out of the coffin because of doubts over the autopsy prepared by the Russian side," said Zbigniew Rzepa, spokesman for the Polish military prosecutors office, which is conducting an investigation into the crash.
Rzepa said in Warsaw that the body would be examined for several days, but declined to say whether more exhumations could follow.
Analysts say if the exhumation proves the autopsy was deficient, it could further strain Polish-Russian relations and pile pressure on the center-right cabinet of Prime Minister Donald Tusk ahead of parliamentary elections due on October 9.
Malgorzata Wassermann, daughter of the former member of the main opposition, the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) Party, previously said she was certain the autopsy documents were faulty because her father had different physical features.
Several relatives of the crash victims have decided to run in the autumn elections, in which analysts say the crash is likely to play a prominent role. But, Malgorzata Wasserman said she would not run.
The row has hurt a fragile rapprochement between Poland and its former Soviet overlord, Russia,
The Polish state plane carrying President Lech Kaczynski crashed while trying to land in thick fog in the city of Smolensk. Disputes between Warsaw and Moscow over responsibility for the disaster has badly damaged ties between the two.
"Today in the morning the exhumation has taken place and the body of Zbigniew Wassermann was taken out of the coffin because of doubts over the autopsy prepared by the Russian side," said Zbigniew Rzepa, spokesman for the Polish military prosecutors office, which is conducting an investigation into the crash.
Rzepa said in Warsaw that the body would be examined for several days, but declined to say whether more exhumations could follow.
Analysts say if the exhumation proves the autopsy was deficient, it could further strain Polish-Russian relations and pile pressure on the center-right cabinet of Prime Minister Donald Tusk ahead of parliamentary elections due on October 9.
Malgorzata Wassermann, daughter of the former member of the main opposition, the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) Party, previously said she was certain the autopsy documents were faulty because her father had different physical features.
Several relatives of the crash victims have decided to run in the autumn elections, in which analysts say the crash is likely to play a prominent role. But, Malgorzata Wasserman said she would not run.
The row has hurt a fragile rapprochement between Poland and its former Soviet overlord, Russia,
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