Poland: Former Polish finance minister Zyta Gilowska partially won a court battle against charges she was once a communist era secret police informer yesterday, raising the chances of her returning to government.
Despite the reservations in the court's ruling, investors cheered the outcome and sent the zloty higher when prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski said the verdict was enough for Ms Gilowska to be reinstated to her old ministerial post in days.
Ms Gilowska, a liberal-minded economist respected by financial markets, quit the conservative cabinet in June when a special prosecutor charged her with lying in an earlier declaration that she was not a willing communist informer in the 1980s. Her battle to clear her name has grabbed public attention in Poland, still grappling with its communist legacy 17 years after the demise of the Soviet bloc and two years after it joined the European Union.
Ms Gilowska denied the charge, saying there was a plot by her enemies to topple her, and challenged it in a court set up to vet state officials.
The court ruled there was not enough evidence to back the charge that she had lied but stopped short of fully vindicating her by saying many questions in the case remained.
"The court rules that Zyta Gilowska made declarations which were in line with the truth," Judge Malgorzata Mojkowska said. "All doubts [in this case] are interpreted in favour of the vetted official."
The ruling opens the way for both sides to appeal. The special prosecutor and Ms Gilowska's lawyer said they would consider challenging the verdict.
- Reuters