Smoleńsk crash images spark controversy

Horrific images of coffins and human remains, said to have been taken in the immediate aftermath of the Smoleńsk air crash which killed the former Polish president and 95 others, have been published on the internet.

The pictures have appeared on the Livejournal social media site, posted by the user ‘gorojanin iz b‘, and have sparked fresh controversy over the catastrophe of April 2010. Authorities in Poland have already denied that the images were leaked by anyone on the Polish side of the investigation, and have called on the Russian government to take swift and tough action to find the source of the leak and prosecute the offender.

Zbigniew Rzepa, spokesman for the Chief Military Prosecutor’s office in Poland, told the portal of Rzeczpospolita Polska: “There is no legal basis for an investigation into the leak [in Poland].” He added that steps were being taken to retrieve the original pictures.

Polish media claim that the blogger is Anton Sizycha, a 51-year-old married man from Siberia. Although the publication of the images provoked public outcry in Poland, there is still some doubt regarding their authenticity.

The Polish Air Force TU-154 crashed en route to a memorial ceremony at Katyń, on April 10, 2010. On board were the President, Lech Kaczyński, his wife Anna, and top-ranking political and military figures. The cause of the crash has still not been determined, but conspiracy theories aside, it is widely believed that pilot error or mechanical failure may have been behind the catastrophe.

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