Polish prosecutors charge former president Wałęsa with false testimony in IPN case

In November 2023 the Warsaw district prosecutor’s office brought charges against former president Lech Wałęsa, accusing him of providing false statements while testifying as a witness in a 2016 Institute of National Remembrance inquiry. The indictment alleges Wałęsa claimed he never signed any of more than fifty documents, such as money receipt acknowledgments and a pledge to cooperate with the former security service, but forensic experts could not verify that the signatures were his.

Prosecutor Szymon Banna emphasized that no conclusive proof exists that the comparative material originated from Wałęsa, and that the experts were not given original writing samples for direct comparison. The investigation originally began after Wałęsa asserted that documents discovered in the home of former interior minister Czesław Kiszczak had been forged. Wałęsa maintained he never signed any cooperation agreement or related paperwork. The prosecutor’s office now seeks to determine whether Wałęsa’s testimony was deliberately false.