WARSAW (AFP)
Poland's former deputy prime minister Andrzej Lepper went on trial Tuesday for allegedly forcing a female employee to have sex with him and other officials in exchange for getting a job, Poland's TVN24 news channel reported.
Lepper, 53, was charged last November with exploiting his position as leader of the populist Samoobrona (Self-Defence) party to force a woman who was seeking a job with the party to have sex with him and other officials in 2001-2002.
The offence carries an eight-year prison sentence.
His deputy Stanislaw Lyzwinski, 54, who is accused of rape and sexual harassment, could face 10 years behind bars.
Both men have denied the charges.
In December 2006, 33-year-old former party employee Aneta Krawczyk accused Lepper and Lyzwinski of demanding sex in exchange for a job.
The scandal rocked Poland's coalition government, contributing to a slide in popularity that saw it fall from power in a snap election last October.
Lepper, who served as agriculture minister and deputy premier, was fired in September 2006 after a policy dispute, only to return weeks later as the then prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski sought to stave off the ensuing political crisis.
He was sacked again in July 2007 after a bribery scandal, although he denied any wrongdoing and claimed he was the victim of a feud with Kaczynski. |
