Polish military prosecutor SHOT himself after news conference on probe into mystery air crash that killed country's president

A Polish prosecutor shot himself today in dramatic footage caught on film in his office after cutting short a news conference.

Moments earlier, he had defended a military investigation into leaks related to a plane crash that killed Poland's president two years ago.

At the start of the conference at his office in Poznan, Colonel Mikolaj Przybyl said: 'During my entire service as a civilian and later military prosecutor, I have never brought shame to the Republic of Poland and I will protect the honour of an officer of the Polish armed forces and prosecution.

Polish prosecutor Mikolaj Przybyl at the start of the news conference in Poznan, western Poland

He then asked the reporters to leave as he 'needs a rest'

'Thank you, please give me a five-minute break, I need to rest,' Przybyl said, as the reporters then leave the room.
 

With the camera still rolling, he walks across the floor and, just out of shot, a pistol can be heard being reloaded and then a gunshot sounded.
As he slumps to the ground, only his feet are in the frame.

He was immediately taken to hospital after reporters found him lying in a pool of blood.

Hospital director Leslaw Lenartowicz said Przybyl is in stable condition, conscious, and his life is not in danger. He added that Przybyl had suffered injuries to his face.

With the camera still rolling, he crosses to the other side of his office after the journalists have left

Przybyl is a deputy head of the prosecutor's office and the head of a local department investigating organised crime in the army.

He had asked the reporters to leave his office after he criticised media leaks from the continuing probe into the plane crash in Russia on April 10, 2010, that killed then-president Lech Kaczynski and 95 others, mostly senior Polish officials.

After shooting himself, his body slumped to the floor, with just his shoe visible in the frame (arrowed)

Dead: Polish President Lech Kaczynski and wife Maria

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During his brief news conference, Przybyl said the military prosecutor's office had the right to seek phone records of journalists covering the investigation of the crash.

He read a statement to reporters in which he objected to plans by Prosecutor General Andrzej Seremet to put military prosecutors under civilian authority.

Seremet said that such a decision has not been made yet.

Przybyl also said that military prosecutors were proving themselves competent in the many probes that they have opened into organised crime cases inside the army.