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Poland charges businessman in leak of secret files from probe into illegal taping of ministers

Associated Press
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Poland's Prosecutor General Andrzej Seremet addresses lawmakers in the parliament about the circumstances concerning the illegal publication of secret files from a prosecutors' probe, in Warsaw, Poland, Wednesday, June 10, 2015. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz) (The Associated Press)

Poland's Prosecutor General Andrzej Seremet walks to address lawmakers in the parliament about the circumstances concerning the illegal publication of secret files from a prosecutors' probe, in Warsaw, Poland, Wednesday, June 10, 2015. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz) (The Associated Press)

Polish prosecutors have questioned and charged a businessman who has published classified files from a probe into the illegal audio taping of government ministers.

Photos of thousands of pages of files from that investigation have been published on Facebook by the man, identified only as Zbigniew S., in line with Poland's privacy laws. They contain personal data, including the addresses of people and high state officials questioned in the probe.

The publication of the files is a blow to the ruling Civic Platform party because it exposes holes in the security of top investigations and in data protection.

The businessman was charged with illegal publication of classified documents.

The files were available to the suspects, the plaintiffs and their legal representatives but they all were banned from publishing them.