Lech Wałęsa investigation dismissed by Warsaw prosecutors

The Warsaw District Prosecutor's Office has dismissed the investigation into former Polish President Lech Wałęsa regarding allegations of perjury. The case centered on the authenticity of documents found in the home of Czesław Kiszczak's widow, which suggested Wałęsa had acted as a secret collaborator under the pseudonym ‘Bolek’.

Prosecutors concluded that there is insufficient evidence to prove Wałęsa lied during his 2016 testimony. The decision follows a critique of the handwriting experts from the Jan Sehn Institute of Forensic Research. Investigators identified significant methodological errors, noting that the experts compared handwriting from the 1970s and 1980s with samples from much later decades. Furthermore, the experts lacked ‘influential handwriting samples’—documents written by Wałęsa under the direct supervision of authorities—to ensure a reliable comparison.

Wałęsa, who has consistently denied signing the documents, reacted to the decision by stating that ‘truth triumphs’ but noted that only half of the truth has been reached. The investigation, which began in 2017 following orders from then-Prosecutor General Zbigniew Ziobro, had previously seen an indictment filed in 2023 before being returned by a court for further investigation.