Opposition wants Poles, not Russians, to lead plane crash probe

Poland's opposition party said Thursday that Warsaw, and not Moscow, should lead the investigation of the plane crash site in Russia where the president and dozens of politicians were killed last month, DPA reported.

"Polish-Russian relations are good, even very good, say most commentators," said Mariusz Blaszczak, spokesman for the right-wing Law and Justice party. "So why should the Russian side refuse the Polish side?"

The resolution calls on Prime Minister Donald Tusk to ask Russian authorities to turn the crash investigation over to Poland. The resolution claims Warsaw needs to head the probe because there are "growing doubts" on the handling of the investigation.

Premier Tusk and Polish prosecutors have said such a move might harm Polish-Russian relations, and relations between Russian and Polish prosecutors working on the probe.

Currently the Polish and Russian sides are cooperating on two separate investigations of the crash that claimed 96 people.

Law and Justice said it was "very disquieting" that three weeks after the crash, visitors to the site were able to find personal items and plane scraps in the field at Smolensk.

Polish visitors to the site told local media Wednesday that they found remains of a watch, metal scraps and a Polish zloty bill at the site. Polish officials said the site was re-secured on Thursday, reported TVN 24.

Law and Justice claim there was still little information known about the crash, and "still no certainty even about the exact time" the plane fell.

Tusk has said it was currently not possible to establish what caused the crash, owing to the complexity and scale of the investigation. "We cannot fool ourselves," he said on April 29 in an address to parliament.

Tusk added that there was yet no cause to question the good will of the Russian side, and their desire to work together on the investigation.