Trial of disgraced SLD politicians implicated in Starachowice scandal opens

Three former Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) deputies, Andrzej Jagiełło, Henryk Długosz and Zbigniew Sobotka appeared in a court in Kielce yesterday. They have been charged of having hampered a police raid on a Starachowice criminal ring, with which local deputies from the party were linked. The accused all pled not guilty. It took several hours for the prosecutors to read out the long list of accusations. The basis of the accusations is confidential. Zbigniew Sobotka, who was a minister responsible for supervising the police, has also been accused of releasing state and official secrets. The first day of the trial began with the testimony of Henryk Długosz. (Rzeczpospolita, pp. A1, A4) A.F.