Antoni Macierewicz condemned the government's report as "lies" Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

“We were presented a report … which was meant to make Poles feel even more pain. All the fault was put on Poles,” said Antoni Macierewicz from opposition party Law and Justice (PiS), commenting today's report into the events surrounding last year's Smolensk plane crash. Mr Macierewicz said the report was “full of lies.”

He accused the commission of contradicting itself, stating during its press conference that all of the plane's equipment was fine till impact, while at the same time writing in its report that two seconds and 17 meters before it hit the ground, the aircraft's entire electrical system was destroyed.

The PiS politician said Interior Minister Jerzy Miller, who headed the commission, was one of those responsible for the crash. Mr Macierewicz said that as interior minister, Mr Miller is in charge of the Government Protection Bureau (BOR) and should have asked for a report on the safety of the Smolensk airport prior to April 10 to make sure Mr Kaczyński could land in safe conditions.

Mr Macierewicz also accused Mr Miller of trying to blame the decision for attempting to land at the Smolensk airport on the late president. At the press conference presenting the government's report, Mr Miller said that it was President Kaczyński's prerogative as the “head” of the Smolensk delegation to decide on an alternative airport at which the Polish plane could land. The implication was that since Mr Kaczyński didn't communicate any alternative landing site to the flight crew, he had left the pilot no choice but to attempt to land in Smolensk. According to the report, President Kaczyński had been informed of the bad weather conditions and was asked if the plane could land elsewhere, but did not come to any final decision.

“[That President Kaczyński was at fault] is a blatant lie. Evidence from the flight recorders show that for the last thirty minutes of the flight, the Russian air-controllers had pleaded with Moscow to indicate an alternative airport but the Russians refused to do so,” thundered Mr Macierewicz.

PiS spokesperson Adam Hoffman said until the wreckage of the TU-154 plane and the original flight recorders were brought to Poland, there could be no talk of any “proper investigation or report.”