Bribery Case Threatens Polish Government
The co-producer of Roman Polanski's The Pianist and Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List is to face trial in an incendiary corruption scandal that goes to the heart of government in Poland. Announcing the charges against Lew Rywin at the weekend, the prosecutor's office also announced it...
The co-producer of Roman Polanski's The Pianist and Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List is to face trial in an incendiary corruption scandal that goes to the heart of government in Poland.
Announcing the charges against Lew Rywin at the weekend, the prosecutor's office also announced it was investigating why the prime minister, Leszek Miller, had hushed up the affair after learning about it almost a year ago. Mr Miller is deeply unpopular, running a minority government, and the scandal could be the final straw that brings it down.
Mr Rywin faces trial on charges of "paid protection", for allegedly acting as a middleman between the government and the country's most successful media business, offering amendments to a bill on media ownership in return for $17.5m (£10.5m).
The case involves some of the most influential figures in Poland. It prompted a parliamentary investigation, live coverage of which has attracted record viewing figures.
The prosecutor's office charged Mr Rywin after questioning more than 70 witnesses.
He is one of the biggest names in the Polish film industry, co-producing the acclaimed Polanski and Spielberg Oscar-winners.
Last summer he approached the publishers of the independent Polish-owned Gazeta Wyborcza, the country's best-selling daily newspaper, offering his services in a bitter row over a media bill that would keep the national press out of the television market.
Adam Michnik, the former dissident and Solidarity leader who is the editor of Gazeta, met Mr Rywin last July and secretly taped a conversation in which the film producer named Mr Miller, said he was operating on behalf of the cabinet and offered amendments to the bill in return for a payment of $17.5m.
Mr Michnik told Mr Miller of the approach and the three men had a meeting. Under Polish law, the prime minister was obliged to inform the police or prosecutor's office of the alleged bribery attempt. He did not, later saying that the case was"absurd", and that Mr Rywin was "psychotic".
Announcing the charges against Lew Rywin at the weekend, the prosecutor's office also announced it was investigating why the prime minister, Leszek Miller, had hushed up the affair after learning about it almost a year ago. Mr Miller is deeply unpopular, running a minority government, and the scandal could be the final straw that brings it down.
Mr Rywin faces trial on charges of "paid protection", for allegedly acting as a middleman between the government and the country's most successful media business, offering amendments to a bill on media ownership in return for $17.5m (£10.5m).
The case involves some of the most influential figures in Poland. It prompted a parliamentary investigation, live coverage of which has attracted record viewing figures.
The prosecutor's office charged Mr Rywin after questioning more than 70 witnesses.
He is one of the biggest names in the Polish film industry, co-producing the acclaimed Polanski and Spielberg Oscar-winners.
Last summer he approached the publishers of the independent Polish-owned Gazeta Wyborcza, the country's best-selling daily newspaper, offering his services in a bitter row over a media bill that would keep the national press out of the television market.
Adam Michnik, the former dissident and Solidarity leader who is the editor of Gazeta, met Mr Rywin last July and secretly taped a conversation in which the film producer named Mr Miller, said he was operating on behalf of the cabinet and offered amendments to the bill in return for a payment of $17.5m.
Mr Michnik told Mr Miller of the approach and the three men had a meeting. Under Polish law, the prime minister was obliged to inform the police or prosecutor's office of the alleged bribery attempt. He did not, later saying that the case was"absurd", and that Mr Rywin was "psychotic".
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