Solidarity founder and former Polish President Lech Walesa said Monday he filed charges against a radical Roman Catholic radio station that allegedly accused him of collaborating with communist authorities in the past. Walesa told PAP news agency he filed the charges with prosecutors in the northern port city of Gdansk last week in connection with comments made during a debate on Radio Maryja several weeks ago. At least one of the participants allegedly accused him of collaborating with communist authorities in the 1970s.
"This is an attempt to answer certain questions. Is Radio Maryja lying and cheating, or am I lying?" the agency quoted Walesa as saying.
Gdansk prosecutors launched a preliminary investigation in March after Walesa brought the incident to the attention of the nation's justice minister in an effort to clear his name.
Walesa, credited with leading the Solidarity union protests that toppled communism in Poland in 1989-90, said the station accused him of signing secret agreements with the communists and working as an informer for the nation's dreaded secret police.
In 2000, a special court that checks the records of officials running for public office cleared Walesa of any communist activity in the 1970s.
Radio Maryja has been criticized by some mainstream Roman Catholic officials in Poland, including the late John Paul II. It is run by a charismatic priest, the Rev. Tadeusz Rydzyk, and enjoys a following of thousands of mainly poorer Poles in the nation's rural areas.
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