The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Polish mayor fatally stabbed by ex-convict
Poland: ‘Revenge’ killer ran on stage as politician was speaking
The liberal mayor of the Polish port city of Gdansk has died after he was stabbed at a charity event by an ex-convict who stormed on stage and said it was revenge against a party the politician once belonged to.
Pawel Adamowicz, 53, died as a result of wounds to the heart and abdomen, health minister Lukasz Szumowski said.
“The fight for his life has been lost,” he said.
The killing of Mr Adamowicz, a six-term mayor who often mingled freely with citizens of his city, sent Poland into shock.
Even before his death was announced, rallies
“My good friend has been murdered. May he rest in peace”
against violence were planned across Poland, while in Gdansk, the city flag was at half-mast and a Mass was planned.
The right-wing ruling Law and Justice party faced accusations that an atmosphere of hatred against Mr Adamowicz and other liberal opponents helped instigate the attack.
Government officials appeared to push back against that accusation, strongly denouncing the attack and stressing the 27-year-old perpetrator had a violent criminal history.
The ex-convict who rushed on stage with a knife on Sunday and stabbed Mr Adamowicz shouted it was revenge against Civic Platform, to which the politician belonged for many years.
The assailant claimed he had been wrongly imprisoned under a previous government led by Civic Platform.
Donald Tusk’s aide said the top European Union official is travelling to his birthplace of Gdansk after his friend’s death.
Mr Tusk, a former Polish prime minister, is the founder of Civic Platform and now president of the European Council.
He tweeted: “Pawel Adamowicz, Mayor of Gdansk, a man of Solidarity and freedom, a European, my good friend, has been murdered. May he rest in peace.”
Deputy chief prosecutor Krzysztof Sierak said there are “doubts” as to the mental state of the attacker, who used a 5.5in-long knife and two psychiatrists will examine him.
He had served five-anda-half years in prison and was released late last year.
The attack triggered an outpouring of solidarity, with many donating blood in Gdansk on Monday.
Law and Justice party spokeswoman Beata Mazurek said the attack should be “absolutely condemned by all, regardless of what side of the political spectrum they are on”.
She insisted politicians in Poland need “greater responsibility for words, for deeds” because “there is no shortage of madmen on both sides” of the political scale.