Polish TV head opposes censorship talk

WARSAW, Poland, June 20 (UPI) -- A TV documentary should be protected from censorship by former Polish President Lech Walesa under freedom of speech laws, the head of state television says.

The state TV head wrote in a leader to Walesa, who failed in his attempt to block the documentary's broadcast, that preventive censorship is excluded under freedom of speech laws, Poland Radio reported Friday.

The TV documentary was based on a book by Slawomir Cenckiewicz and Piotr Gontarczyk that detailed controversial portions of the former president's past, including an allegation that Walesa once worked with Communists.

The book, which is set for release Monday, also alleges that Walesa attempted to destroy documents that detailed this cooperation after he became president, Poland Radio said.

In addition to attempting to block the broadcast of the TV documentary, Walesa threatened to sue the public TV group for more than $9 million.