Polish Connections

Rywin's List
He brought you Schindler's List and The Pianist. The Polish movie mogul, Lew Rywin, might well have been writing the scenario for his next ‘block buster’ over the past few years.
Rywin, 59, was convicted last year of being an accessory to influence peddling. He was found guilty by a Warsaw court of trying to solicit a $17.5 million bribe from a leading newspaper, Gazeta Wyborcza, in 2002.
Poland's supreme court upheld the conviction on bribery charge, concluding a three-year case that helped undermine the outgoing government.
Rywin was convicted soliciting a bribe of $17 from a newspaper editor in return for promoting changes to Polish media law. He was also fined $30,000 (GBP16,700) told the editor he was acting on behalf of senior politicians including then-prime minister LESZEK MILLER.

While in Poland
Alexander K - the president of all swindlers
News that outgoing Polish President Alexander Kwasniewski might run for the post of UN Secretary-general is causing a stir in some parts.Kwasniewski, a former communist apparatchik, is about to leave his presidential office this fall.
Scandals and corruption that have figured heavily in his administration; it is alleged that Kwasniewski used his position to influence the sell-off of a state-owned oil refinery to the Russians.
He is expected to be brought before the State Tribunal, the Polish judicial body that rules on the constitutional liability of people holding the highest offices of state. Kwasniewski’s name is associated with the politicians accused of profiteering on the war in Iraq.
He also tried to cover up a multi-million-dollar corruption scandal in which film producer Rywin solicited a $17.5-million bribe from the Polish daily “Gazeta Wyborcza” in return for favorable changes to media laws.
The election for the next U.N. secretary-general will take place in fall next year. Kwasniewski, who has recently expressed interest in the UN job and frequently visits the U.S. campaigning for support, will be the candidate with a background of scandals and hypocrisy.