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The body of the former Polish president, Ryszard Kaczorowski, has been exhumed on Monday following doubts about whether he had been buried in the correct grave. Forensic data have confirmed that the tomb marked 'President-in-exile Ryszard Kaczorowski' in the Temple of Divine Providence in southern Warsaw did not contain his body sources have informed.
This week's exhumation brings the total to seven, and the military prosecutor's office has not ruled out the possibility of further exhumations in the near future, following another botched burial. Prosecutors have said that at least two more victims will be exhumed before the end of the year. The action has been taken owing to doubts concerning the accuracy of the Russian autopsies made immediately after the crash. So far, the exhumations have been undertaken under the prosecutions own initiative and judgment, systematically refusing such requests to relatives. Additionally, The Military Prosecutor's Office has systemically refused the relatives to have there own experts present during the autopsies. Concerns have also been raised about the exhumation procedure itself.
The exhumation follows the discovery that the remains of legendary Solidarity co-founder Anna Walentynowicz – were buried in the wrong grave. Last month investigators confirmed that the body of 1980s anti-communist opposition icon Anna Walentynowicz and co-founder of the Solidarity trade union had been switched with that of another crash victim.
What has happened only underlines the approach of the Russian authorities and how reliable their documentation is. “The original sin was when Poland decided not to work with Russian investigators hand-in-hand immediately after the crash,” according to Stefan Hambura, an attorney for the family of Walentynowicz.
The widow of the last president-in-exile Ryszard Kaczorowski has been hospitalised. “Mrs President took part in various activities at the Department of Forensic Medicine in Krakow. And quite simply, on the second day, she had to undergo cardiac treatment,” said Gniewomir Rokosz-Kuczynski, a former assistant of the late president.
For the string of exhumations, Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk has blamed the families for wrongly identifying their loved ones, and said that he did not understand the families need to have their relatives exhumed.
