Police probe fire at Polish opposition MP's home

Opposition Civic Platform (PO) lawmaker Krzysztof Brejza (above center) told DW that the fire started in the courtyard of the house in which he lives with his family before spreading through the walls of his apartment in Inowroclaw at about 2:00 a.m. (UTC/GMT 0000) local time on Saturday.

"My two children were asleep close to the fire where gas pipes ran and there could have been an explosion if my neighbors had not seen the fire and put it out," he said.

"We don't know if the fire was an act of hooliganism or had a more political significance," Brejza said. "We haven't ruled anything out."

Dorota Brejza, wife of the MP, tweeted photos of internal damage caused by the fire:

Police spokeswoman Izabella Drobniecka told the Polish news agency PAP that the police were looking into the cause of the fire in the city in north-central Poland.

Too much of a coincidence?

Brejza, a lawyer by trade, has been an MP since 2007 and is one of the most active opposition politicians in Poland. He has been targeted by state television TVP, which since PiS came to power in 2015 has become more obviously pro-government.

Brejza has made public accusations that members of the current government have received allegedly unwarranted government bonuses since 2015.

He has also alleged that PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski misled parliament in his 2016 wealth declaration and has received higher retirement benefits as a consequence. He has called on Kaczynski, who recently oversaw a cut in MPs' wages, to publish the relevant accounts.

PiS has fallen in the polls since the allegations went public.  

State-run television has run critical reports about Brejza for some time.

The MP also sits on a special parliamentary commission investigating a 2012 financial scandal surrounding the bankrupt company Amber Gold. 

Polish former prime minister and now President of the European Council Donald Tusk's son, Michal, was involved in the Amber Gold pyramid scheme that saw thousands of Poles cheated out of their savings from 2009 to 2012.

According to criminal records, 19,000 customers were swindled out of a combined sum of €200 million ($235 million).

Former Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski (a PO member like Brejza) was summoned in early May for questioning by the Amber Gold commission.