Court convicts 3 for blackmailing Polish senator

[August 31, 2011]  WARSAW, Poland (AP) -- A Polish court has convicted three people on charges of blackmailing Krzysztof Piesiewicz, a senator and screenwriter known internationally for collaborating on the award-winning "Three Colors" movie trilogy.

The district court of Warsaw also sentenced the two women and a man on Tuesday to 18 months in prison.

The verdicts came after a tabloid released video in 2009 of Piesiewicz appearing to take cocaine with prostitutes. Piesiewicz has said he paid the women to keep the meetings secret but went to police when they demanded money a third time.

Piesiewicz collaborated with the late director Krzysztof Kieslowski on the films "The Double Life of Veronique" and the "Three Colors (Blue, White and Red)" trilogy.

[Associated Press]

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