WARSAW, November 14 - RAPSI. The Polish Military Prosecutor's Office in Poznan has initiated a case on violations committed in the investigation of the Tu-154 Polish presidential plane's crash, which occurred near Smolensk in 2010, Slawomir Schewe, a spokesperson of the Poznan Prosecutor's Office said.

The case was opened in response to an application submitted to the office by relatives of the deceased, who believe that the investigators from the Warsaw Prosecutor's Office were not present at the forensic examination in Russia, though they had the opportunity to do so. At a later point, they allegedly hindered the impartial investigation. The Poznan prosecutors will now be looking into the Warsaw prosecutors' actions.

Previously, the prosecutors announced that mistakes were made in the way the bodies were marked and identified. The remains of four victims of the crash had to be exhumed and then re-buried. A further two bodies were exhumed on Monday and are currently being examined.

In addition, an article in the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita reported the discovery of traces of TNT and nitroglycerine found at the site of the crash and incited a great stir among Polish politicians.

This claim does not correspond with the official version of the investigation; the day the article was published, the military prosecutor's offices denied all allegations.
Tomasz Wroblewski, editor-in-chief of the influential Polish daily Rzeczpospolita has been fired, together with correspondent Cezary Gmyz and two other staff members, over the article.

Rzeczpospolita has published a statement claiming that responsibility must be taken for mistaken decisions, hence the reason for these dismissals.

The opposition believed the story was a provocation against the authorities, aimed at discrediting the head of the Law and Justice political party Jaroslaw Kaczynski, according to the Newsweek magazine.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski died in the crash on April 10, 2010, when the Polish Air Force Tu-154 attempted to land at Smolensk-North airport in Russia. Ninety six people died, including the president, his wife, and a number of the country's key officials.

The Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) issued a final report in late July 2011 stating that the crash was caused by the crew's attempt to land in thick fog in conditions of poor visibility. Additionally, the IAC said the poor flight preparation and the inadequately qualified crew were the root cause of the tragedy.

The case of the violations committed during the investigation was initiated on November 2. There are currently no suspects. Violations of this kind are punishable by up to three years in prison, the RMF FM radio station reported.