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Europe

Handwriting analysis: Walesa helped Polish secret police

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    FILE - In this file photo taken in Gdansk, Poland, April 6, 2016, Poland's former president and legendary Solidarity freedom movement founder Lech Walesa acts with expression as he repeats his denials to allegations that he collaborated with the communist regime and talks about the "crisis of democracy" during an interview with The Associated Press at his new office at the European Solidarity Center in Gdansk. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, file) (The Associated Press)

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    FILE - This file photo taken in Warsaw, Poland on Feb. 22 , 2016 shows part of an 1970 agreement to collaborate with the communist-era secret police signed "Lech Walesa" and code name "Bolek." Experts of a state history institute said Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017, in Warsaw, Poland, that handwriting analysis of this and other documents confirms that Lech Walesa, the later founder of the pro-democracy Solidarity movement, collaborated with the Polish communist-era secret police for money from 1970 to 1976. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, file) (The Associated Press)

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    The chief prosecutor of the state National Remembrance Institute Andrzej Pozorski, left, and the head of the institute Jaroslaw Szarek, right, attend a news conference in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017, during which they presented an opinion by experts who say that handwriting analysis confirms beyond doubt that Solidarity founder Lech Walesa collaborated with the communist-era security police from 1970-76, wrote reports on other workers and signed receipts for money. Walesa, a former president and Nobel Peace Prize winner vehemently denies the allegations. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski) (The Associated Press)

WARSAW, Poland – Experts with a state historical institute say a handwriting analysis confirms Lech Walesa collaborated with the Polish communist-era secret police from 1970 to 1976, a few years before he founded the pro-democracy Solidarity movement.

Officials with the Institute of National Remembrance said Tuesday that the analysis of communist-era files signed by agent "Bolek," who is believed to be Walesa, confirms Walesa signed agreements to collaborate with the secret police, wrote reports on regime opponents and signed receipts for money in return.

The 73-year-old Walesa, who won the Nobel Peace prize in 1983 for his peaceful dissident activism, strongly denies the allegations, which he has faced for years. Poland's first popularly chosen president after communism, Walesa was cleared by a court of the allegations in 2000 but they continue to resurface.

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