Paweł Piskorski

Paweł Bartłomiej Piskorski (born February 25, 1968 in Warsaw) is a former Polish politician. He was Mayor of Warsaw from 30 March 1999 to 14 January 2002. In 1997 he was elected to the Sejm from the Freedom Union electoral list, and in 2001, after participating in a secession from that party, he successfully ran under the Civic Platform banner. In 2004 he was the Secretary General of Civic Platform. He has been elected Member of the European Parliament in 2004. April 26, 2006 excluded from the Civic Platform. Since February 2009 he has been the chairman of the Democratic Party.

In April 2006 Polish newspaper "Dziennik" informed about the purchased transaction performed in 2005 by Pawel Piskorski with his wife of more than 320 hectares of land for afforestation. The total cost of the purchase amounted to 1.25 million zł. According to the journalist of this newspaper, this amount exceeded the value of assets declared by an MEP in a financial statement for that year. Pawel Piskorski had explained that the money came from the sale of housing, credit, savings and current income him and his wife. That declaration had not been officially challenged by any public authority. Nevertheless, Piskorski's reputation has been irrecoverably damaged. The day after the publication of the national board of the PO decided about his exclusion from the party, which was followed on May 17 be removal of all his ten collaborators, among others, Piotr Fogler. The official reason stated was damages to the image of the Civic Platform.

In January 2009 Piotr Piskorski joined the Democratic Party, thus becoming the only MEP of the party, as well as declaring his intention to run for the position of chairman. This position is obtained at an extraordinary congress Democratic Party, held on February 21 the same year. However, his nomination was followed by the publication of his statements given to National Revenue Service agency to explain sources of his income. He tried to explain that he earned money by persistent winnings at the casino and by art trading. The public opinion has taken these clarifications with disbelief, which torpedoed election campaign of the Democratic Party.

In January 2010, introduced prosecutor charged him with the use of a forged document (contract with an antique dealer) in tax proceedings. Pawel Piskorski pleaded not guilty to committing this act.

Prosecution of alleged cases of corruption and forgery in Poland used to be ineffective, therefore putting the charges against any politician is damaging to political reputation; even if charges are eventually dropped.

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