Leading Polish film maker Lew Rywin was sentenced today to two-and-a-half years in jail for soliciting a bribe in the country's biggest corruption scandal since the 1989 fall of communism.
A court ruled Rywin, who co-produced Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List, had sought $17.5 million from a newspaper publisher in exchange for promised changes in media legislation.
The court said it was impossible to conclusively prove allegations that Rywin acted on behalf of senior figures linked to Prime Minister Leszek Miller's Democratic Left Alliance.
The scandal has tarnished the party's image and contributed to a plunge in its popularity ratings.