The case of the businessman, Marek Falenta, has raised questions about whether there could have been Russian influence in Poland’s elections in 2015. In January, Falenta was sentenced to 2-1/2 years in prison but escaped to Spain, where he was arrested in April. While in a Spanish jail awaiting extradition, he wrote to Polish President Andrzej Duda making his third request for a pardon, the daily Rzeczpospolita reported. Grzegorz Rzeczkowski, an investigative reporter for the weekly magazine Polityka, has found evidence of links between Falenta and Russian that go beyond the coal imports. In one example, the restaurants where the recordings took place were established by people with links to Russia.

Source: Washington Post June 10, 2019 12:33 UTC