Former anti-communist activist Henyka Krzywonos accused PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński of degrading the honor of his deceased brother, former President Lech Kaczyński, at the 30th anniversary celebrations of the 1980 strikes in Gdańsk.

“I ask you, please don't make people rebel against you. I don't know what happened to you,” she said in front of a crowd of delegates, supporters and former communist opposition members who had earlier greeted Mr Kaczyński with a standing ovation. Ms Krzywonos, a former tram driver who stopped her tram in Gdańsk 30 years ago, effectively starting the strikes, approached the microphone at the gathering and said Mr Kaczyński had offended everyone in attendance.

Earlier yesterday, Mr Kaczyński had said his brother had been in talks with some advisors who encouraged capitulation during the strikes. Gazeta Wyborcza reports that following the meeting former PM Tadeusz Mazowiecki, one of the aforementioned advisors, approached Mr Kaczyński and said it was not true that he had wanted to capitulate, to which the PiS leader responded: “I have a different vision.”

“This is not about visions, it is about facts,” Mr Mazowiecki said.

Poland AM