Former Polish prime minister Jozef Oleksy was convicted Wednesday by a special tribunal of having lied about collaborating with Poland's communist-era military intelligence service and barred from politics for 10 years.
The court declared that Oleksy was a "secret and conscious collaborator" with the military intelligence service between 1970-1978.
Oleksy, a parliamentary deputy of the opposition Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), the social democratic successor of the former communist party, announced he would appeal the verdict.
All Polish public officials are required to declare whether they cooperated with the communist-era secret police. Collaborators who come forward may hold public office but anyone caught hiding cooperation is barred from public office for 10 years.
Oleksy was forced to resign from office in 1995 when then-president Lech Walesa and his entourage accused him of working for the Russians, but was cleared of the charges by military investigators in 1996 -- WARSAW (AFP)
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