WARSAW, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Polish Deputy Minister of Justice Lukasz Piebiak announced resignation Tuesday, a day after reports that he tried to discredit judges critical of the government via producing online rumour about their personal lives.
Piebiak said he decided to step down for taking responsibility for the government. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Tuesday said he would accept the resignation.
The resignation followed reports by portal Onet.pl that Piebiak played a key role in distributing personal information of judges who had criticized the Polish government.
Onet.pl claimed that Piebiak had been in continuous contact with an online user called "Emilia", providing the latter with life records and home addresses of the judges, in violation of privacy laws. "Emilia" then distributed such information to pro-government media and on the social media.
The involved judges, including head of judges association "Iustitia", had criticized judicial reforms launched by the government.
The prime minister said on Tuesday that he had asked for an explanation about the scandal from Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro. Prosecutors have also started looking into the case.
