WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Poland’s military prosecutors said Friday they have charged two Russian flight controllers with contributing to the 2010 plane crash in Russia that killed Poland’s President Lech Kaczynski and 95 other state officials and individuals.
Warsaw regional prosecutor Col. Ireneusz Szelag said that Polish military investigators have asked their Russian counterparts to facilitate questioning of the controllers who were communicating with the presidential plane as it attempted to land in poor visibility at a rudimentary airport in Smolensk on April 10, 2010. The Tu-154M plane clipped trees and crashed some 500 meters (yards) from the runway, killing all aboard.
Szelag said that Polish prosecutors have charged the Smolensk controllers with unintentionally contributing to the crash by allowing the crew to attempt landing in dense fog and providing them with imprecise guidance. One of the controllers was charged with direct responsibility, the other with indirect responsibility. According to Polish law, they could face up to eight years in prison.
Szelag stressed that Russian law and bilateral agreements should be taken into account, as Poland awaits Moscow’s reply.
Szelag said prosecutors also charged some Polish officials who organized the flight and appointed the crew, which was not licensed to fly under poor visibility. His statements confirmed findings from an initial investigation.
Poland has been asking Moscow in vain to return the wreckage.
The announcement comes at a time when Poland’s ties with Russia are tense over the deadly conflict in neighboring Ukraine between the government forces and Russia-backed rebels
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