Interior minister to justify showing 'zoophile' migrant pictures

Poland's interior minister has said he will present to parliament further justification for publicising pictures, apparently found on a migrant’s phone, of a man appearing to be having sex with a cow despite it later emerging that the images had been lifted from an old video.

During a press conference on Monday, Mariusz Kamiński and Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak showed the press materials they said had come from the mobile phones of some of the migrants detained at the Polish-Belarusian border, which indicated their possible involvement in terrorism or paramilitary organisations.

Checks by the security services of the phones had apparently revealed evidence of paedophile and zoophile activities.

But the OKO.press portal reported on Tuesday that the pictures the ministers had shown, portraying a man copulating with an animal, were in fact taken from an old video available on the internet.

On Wednesday, journalists asked Kamiński if he would apologise for the use of the pictures during Monday's press conference.

"The matter will continue," he said. "Most probably we will soon have a debate in the Sejm (lower house of parliament - PAP) on extending the state of emergency, I will present additional circumstances justifying that presentation."

Areas adjacent to the Polish border with Belarus have been subject to a 30-day state of emergency since September 2 due to increased migratory pressure Warsaw claims to be engineered by Belarusian authorities.

Under the state of emergency journalist are prohibited from entering the area it covers.