Lech Wałęsa clashes with reporter over communist-era secret police files at Warsaw birthday event

Confrontation outside the National Museum

Former Polish president Lech Wałęsa engaged in a verbal altercation with wPolsce24 television reporter Rafał Jarząbek at the National Museum in Warsaw on Tuesday. The incident took place during the "Freedom in Practice" conference, an event organized to commemorate Wałęsa's 83rd birthday. Prior to entering the museum venue, Jarząbek approached the former president, presented him with paper printouts of archival records linked to the communist-era secret police informant codename "Bolek", and asked if he recognized them. Wałęsa rejected the materials with a vulgar dismissal and proceeded into the building. When the reporter asked whether his signatures appeared on the presented pages, Wałęsa explicitly denied that they were his.

Pan sobie d...ę wytrzyj tym, bo do tego się to nadaje

Escalation inside the birthday conference

Jarząbek followed Wałęsa into the museum hall to continue asking questions about the secret informant files and his past activities. The confrontation escalated when the former president's son, Bogdan Wałęsa, intervened directly between the two men. Bogdan Wałęsa seized the printouts from the journalist's hands, crumpled the paper sheets, and repeatedly told him to leave the venue quietly. When the reporter replied that the records were held in official state archives and insisted that he possessed press accreditation, Bogdan Wałęsa dismissed the papers as trash and reiterated that the gathering was a private event. Lech Wałęsa then confronted the journalist directly, shouting, telling him to back off, and attempting to grab the television microphone while asking if the reporter wanted him to smash it.

To jest śmieć, nie dokument. My mamy imprezę, człowieku, zamkniętą. Daj nam spokój.

Context of the dropped prosecution inquiry

The former president appealed to event staff to intervene, asking whether organizers would remove the journalist or if he would have to eject the reporter himself, leading to Jarząbek being escorted out of the room. The confrontation occurred shortly after the Warsaw District Prosecutor's Office closed an investigation into Wałęsa regarding allegations of giving false testimony concerning the so-called Kiszczak files. That case originated from an April 2016 witness questioning session at the Warsaw branch of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN). During that 2016 session, investigators presented Wałęsa with more than 50 documents regarding cooperation with the communist Security Service (SB) discovered at the home of General Czesław Kiszczak's widow. Wałęsa denied signing or creating all but one of the documents, and prosecutors dropped the case due to doubts surrounding graphological expert opinions and an absence of certain grounds confirming authorship.

Commentary from Sławomir Cenckiewicz

Historian and former National Security Bureau head Sławomir Cenckiewicz discussed the altercation during an interview on television network wPolsce24. Cenckiewicz argued that modern media coverage allows the public to observe Wałęsa's typical conduct during confrontational encounters. He recalled past courtroom proceedings between himself and Wałęsa, noting that the former president previously threatened him directly in the courtroom. Cenckiewicz also referenced an intercepted conversation from September 1982 between Lech Wałęsa and his brother Stanisław, which drew attention at the time for its coarse language. While the Solidarity movement originally claimed that recording was fabricated, Cenckiewicz stated that the exchange reflected Wałęsa's authentic manner of speech.

Przypomnę, że na procesie sądowym między Wałęsą a mną, Lech Wałęsa na sali sądowej powiedział do mnie: "będziesz wisiał".