Polish military prosecutor shoots himself during press conference

A military prosecutor of Poland committed an act of attempted suicide during a press conference. Col. Mikolaj Przybyl was investigating the crash of the presidential Tu-154 jetliner near Smolensk, Russia. 

During the press conference, the prosecutor issued a rebuttal evidence that the prosecution allegedly bugged the talks of the journalists who were investigating the death of Polish President Lech Kaczynski in 2010, reports the BBC Russian Service. After his emotional speech Mikolaj Przybyl asked to give him five minutes to rest. He came out of the room, and the shot was heard the next moment, Vesti said.

The colonel shot himself in the head, but the wound was not lethal. He is currently in stable condition and conscious. His life is out of danger, officials said.

Moments before shooting himself, Przybyl 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 was under discussion, but has not been made yet, The Associated Press reports.

Przybyl also said that military prosecutors were proving themselves competent in the many probes that they have opened into organized crime cases inside the army. The probes primarily concern suspicions of corruption in buying equipment for Poland's troops on missions in Afghanistan and, earlier, in Iraq.

Przybyl denied media suggestions that the military prosecutors broke the law while investigating the 2010 crash of the presidential plane in Russia when President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others were killed. The media have reported that the prosecutors had unlawfully sought billing lists and text message content of mobile phones of some reporters to determine the source of leaks to the media, The AP said.