The manager of a company hired to provide security during the event at which Pawel Adamowicz, the mayor of Gdansk, was stabbed and killed last week has been arrested on suspicion of providing false information and inciting others to make false statements, a spokeswoman for the District Prosecutor’s Office in Gdańsk said on Monday.
A spokeswoman from the Prosecutors office said said investigators believed the man attempted to mislead officers by claiming the attacker used a media badge to get past security guards and gain access to the stage where he stabbed and fatally wounded Pawel Adamowicz.
The head of the security firm, identified only as Dariusz S., is suspected of attempting to persuade one of his employees to lie to investigators the spokeswoman said.
He faces up to eight years in prison if found guilty of the charges.
The much-loved mayor of Gdansk was stabbed several times shortly before 8 pm on Sunday, January 19, on a stage in front of hundreds of people, during a national charity event.
The attacker, a 27-year-old resident of the city, was quickly arrested by the security guards and taken away by the police, without resisting, According to Polish media the man has served more than five years in prison for four armed robberies of banks in Gdansk. Reports suggest that his mental health had deteriorated while in prison.
A video recording of the attack, posted on YouTube, shows the man burst onto the stage. After attacking the mayor with a large knife, he gesticulates triumphantly while waving his weapon, then seizes the microphone to claim to claim that he was tortured while in prison and blamed the Civic platform, the main opposition party and supporter of Adamowicz’s candidacy to the municipal elections last autumn. “That’s why Adamowicz dies,” he added.
Adamowicz ‘s funeral, which was held on Saturday, was attended by European Council President Donald Tusk — a personal friend of Adamowicz’s — Polish President Andrzej Duda; Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki; former German President Joachim Gauck and city mayors from The Netherlands and Germany.
Pope Francis sent rosaries to the family and dedicated prayers to the former mayor. Prayers were also said by the country’s Jewish and Muslim leaders.
Crowds overflowed into the streets in Gdansk but were able to watch funeral Mass on giant screens. The funeral was also broadcast on big screens in Warsaw and other cities across Poland.
