Informer law struck down

Warsaw

Poland’s Constitutional Court this week struck down parts of the Polish law requiring people to confess to any collaboration with the Communist regime. Chief Justice Jerzy Stepien said the requirement, known as lustration, should only apply to senior officials in government. “Lustration cannot be used to punish people or as a form of revenge,” he said. But that’s not the end of the matter. Polish President Lech Kaczynski has said that if the law was ruled unconstitutional, he would make thousands of secret police files public. The files are notoriously unreliable, and many Poles fear that innocents could be falsely implicated.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up