Polish Colonel Accused of Lying in Kidnap Trial

A Polish secret police colonel who has denied charges of instigating the murder of a pro-Solidarity Roman Catholic priest was denounced in court Monday by his subordinate, who said the colonel’s testimony was a lie.

Col. Adam Pietruszka, 47, the most senior of four security service officers charged in the murder of Father Jerzy Popieluszko, finished testifying by repeating his plea of innocence and calling the murder--as the Polish government has done--a political provocation against the state and its relations with the Catholic Church.

As Pietruszka finished testifying, Capt. Grzegorz Piotrowski, 33, leader of a three-man secret police squad accused of kidnaping and killing the priest, rose to accuse his commanding officer of deceiving the court by denying any role in the kidnaping.

In an angry outburst, the captain said, “Adam Pietruszka’s evidence is a lie in its fundamental points.”

He added: “I cannot look my subordinates in the eye today (because) I have brought them to the dock. But I at least have the awareness that since the whole tragedy began, I have never taken even half a step back to hide from my responsibility. . . . I have not, like Adam Pietruszka, decided that acceptance of responsibility and the concepts of honor and civil courage are dispensable or dangerous.”

In his closing testimony, Pietruszka also said his superior officer in the security service department that monitors the church, Gen. Zenon Platek, told him in October that a Warsaw bishop said Popieluszko had succumbed to pressure from the church and government and had agreed to leave Poland for study in Rome.

The colonel’s statement appeared aimed at showing that he had no motive for ordering an attack on the priest, whose unyielding advocacy of the outlawed Solidarity trade union brought him a nationwide following and the government’s enmity.

Capt. Piotrowski and two secret police lieutenants have admitted kidnaping Popieluszko on Oct. 19, binding, gagging and beating him. However, they contend that his death was accidental.

The government accuses Col. Pietruszka of encouraging the attack on the priest, then attempting to cover up his department’s responsibility as he sat on a special investigating commission convened to probe the murder.

All four officers face possible death sentences if convicted.

Earlier in the day, Pietruszka implicated his own superior, Gen. Platek. Alleging that Platek told him to lie, Pietruszka said he could not regard his statements to investigators as “concealment on my part. When I heard from Platek, I assumed that everyone who should have known did know.”

Platek, who is to appear later as a witness, has been suspended from duty for failing to supervise his department, but has not been charged with complicity.