Charges laid in Polish sex case

Mr Lepper has said he is the victim of a smear campaign

Polish prosecutors have charged a former deputy prime minister, Andrzej Lepper, with soliciting sex from two women who worked for his party.

Mr Lepper, who heads the populist Self-Defence Party, denied the charges and was released on bail.

The allegations against Mr Lepper and another senior party official surfaced nearly a year ago.

They were seen as a factor in the eventual defeat of the right-wing coalition government.

Mr Lepper could face up to eight years in jail if convicted.

He was Poland's agriculture minister as well as one of four deputy prime ministers.

The allegations surfaced in December 2006 when Aneta Krawczyk said in a newspaper interview that she had to sleep with both Mr Lepper and his deputy Stanislaw Lyzwinski in exchange for a job in a regional party office.

She also claimed to have a child fathered by Mr Lyzwinski but DNA tests ordered by prosecutors ruled him out.

Mr Lepper was also charged over a failed attempt to force sexual favours from another female party employee.