ISTANBUL

Polish prosecutors have indicted a former defense minister for allegedly disclosing classified information tied to the 2010 Smolensk plane crash investigation, state news agency PAP reported Wednesday.

Antoni Macierewicz, an opposition Law and Justice (PiS) lawmaker, is accused of disclosing classified information while serving as head of a subcommittee reviewing the plane crash and as a member of the State Aviation Accident Investigation Commission.

The indictment was submitted to a court in the capital Warsaw on Dec. 14, according to a spokesman for the National Prosecutor’s Office.

Prosecutors said the alleged offenses occurred between April 2018 and May 2022.

Macierewicz allegedly disclosed information classified at multiple levels from “restricted” to “top secret” including material drawn from classified documents and findings on the causes and circumstances of the crash.

He could face up to five years in prison if convicted over the alleged disclosures.

In 2010, a plane carrying Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife, and 94 others, including senior government and military officials, died when their aircraft crashed near Smolensk in western Russia.