People fill churches and cemeteries while large crowd gathers in front of presidential palace to remember Lech Kaczynski
Church bells have been rung across Poland to mark the first anniversary of the death of President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others in a plane crash in Russia.
Poles filled churches and cemeteries and a large crowd gathered in front of the presidential palace, where Kaczynski and his wife, Maria, lived until their deaths in the crash, which happened near Smolensk.
The crowd fell still at 8.41am. Sirens were sounded in central Warsaw, while church bells pealed elsewhere.
Earlier, the loved ones of many victims gathered for a private mass at Warsaw airport, to which the coffins of the 96 victims were returned last year.
At the time, Poland experienced a short period of national unity amid the shock of losing the president, the first lady and many ranking military and civilian leaders.
The disaster, however, quickly deepened political and social divisions and, in an indication of those divisions, separate commemorative events are being held.
The prime minister, Donald Tusk, the president, Bronislaw Komorowski, and other politicians placed candles at a memorial plaque to the victims in a Warsaw military church.
But Kaczynski's twin brother, Jaroslaw, marked the anniversary separately, placing a large wreath in front of the presidential palace.
Kaczynski and many of the others killed belonged to the nationalist conservative Law and Justice party, which Jaroslaw Kaczynski heads.
That camp blames Tusk's government for selling out Poland's interests by allowing Russia to lead the main investigation into the crash. Earlier this year, Russian investigators concluded that Poland bore full responsibility for the crash, prompting outrage.
The plane crashed while trying to land in heavy fog, and Tusk's government acknowledges that most mistakes were made by the pilots and other Poles.
But they also want Russia to acknowledge the role that Russian air traffic controllers and the rudimentary state of the Russian airport might have played ? issues that were avoided in the Russian report.
The sense of Russia avoiding responsibility has fuelled anger, and conspiracy theories, among Kaczynski's supporters.
On Saturday, hundreds marched past the presidential palace in central Warsaw, carrying flags and chanting Kaczynski's name. A large banner accused the Russian prime minister, Vladimir Putin, of being a murderer and Tusk of being a traitor.
They also demanded Russia hand over important evidence and the plane wreckage.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/10/poland-marks-anniversary-president-death
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