Social Media Activist Breathes New Life Into Polish Secret Tapes Scandal

In June 2014, Polish newsmagazine Wprost released excerpts from tape recordings of private conversations between senior Polish officials taking place across restaurants in Warsaw dating back to the summer of 2013. The conversations revealed shady dealings, political infighting, and Polish concerns about its relations with foreign powers. In one discussion, then-Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told former Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski that Poland's alliance with the US was "bull****," lamenting that Poland would "get into a conflict with the Russians and the Germans, and we'll think that everything is super because we gave the Americans a blowjob."

Former Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who resigned in September 2014 to take up the presidency of the European Council in Brussels, blamed the leaks on "an organized criminal group" aimed at "destabilizing the state" and pointed the finger at Russia, while the country's security services raiding Wprost's offices following the publication of the conversations.

The scandal over the secret tapes reemerged this week after social activist Zbigniew Stonoga published 2,500 pages from 13 of 20 volumes of investigation materials on social networks and on his internet newspaper. The materials, which Stonoga claimed to have found on Chinese internet sites, include testimony from the accused and from witnesses, along with personal information such as addresses and phone numbers, and evidence for the case.

Polish authorities have confirmed that this may be the largest leak of materials for an ongoing investigation in the country's history. The leak is now subject to criminal investigation by the Warsaw District prosecutor's office. Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz called together representatives from the security services, and the ministries of defense, interior and justice for council over the matter.

On Tuesday, the attorney general's office confirmed that the materials for the case were presented for examination and review to suspects, the defense and their lawyers, warning that those responsible for the leak will be subject to criminal prosecution. Polish experts commenting on the affair believe that the prosecutor's office may be responsible for the leak, calling into question their efficacy as an organization.

Commenting on the impact of the leaks in an article for Russia's Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Poland expert  Ariadna Rokossovskaya noted that they could "bury the hopes of the ruling Civic Platform Party for retaining power" in this fall's parliamentary elections, given that many of the conversations feature party officials making statements which the Polish electorate could find politically compromising.