Nation mourns stab death Gdansk mayor

FLAGS FLEW at half-mast and people signed condolence books at municipal buildings across Poland as the nation mourned the stabbing death of the mayor of port city Gdansk.

In Gdansk, inset, people placed flowers and candles and signed a condolence book at the town hall, where mayor Pawel Adamowicz had his office since he was first elected in 1998.

In the capital Warsaw, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and members of his cabinet stood for a moment of silence in Mr Adamowicz’s honour before their weekly meeting.

Meanwhile, interior minister Joachim Brudzinski said police have arrested three people who had called for more killings following the assassination of Mr Adamowicz, who died on Monday after being stabbed during a charity event.

Mr Brudzinski described those arrested as internet trolls and “unbalanced”.

The assailant stabbed Mr Adamowicz three times while on stage during a charity event on Sunday evening. He then told a crowd of thousands he did it in revenge against the opposition Civic Platform party, which was in power when he was imprisoned in 2013 for bank robberies. Mr Adamowicz was a long-time member of Civic Platform but left it in 2015. Officials have identified the assailant as 27-year-old Stefan W from Gdansk who left prison in December after serving more than five years for bank robberies.