Szczecin police chief dismissed by Minister for failure to act against mob

Interior Minister Krzysztof Janik dismissed the deputy head of the Szczecin voivodship police, following an attack on Wednesday on the president of the Odra textile plant by demonstrating Szczecin Shipyard workers while police stood and watched. "The police, who were supposed to maintain order, did not react," said Janik, "I therefore demanded that disciplinary action be taken against those responsible for securing the demonstration." The protesting shipyard workers apologized for the incident, in which they vented their frustration on Henryk Walus, president of Odra, whose employees have not received their salaries for several months now. Politicians from all parties, with the exception of Andrzej Lepper's Samoobrona, condemned the incident and the indolence of police. "A situation in which the police do nothing when a man is being beaten up is proof that there is no state," said Lech Kaczynski, head of the Law and Justice party (PiS). (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 3)