Lech Walesa has denied allegations that he collaborated with the communist regime (AP)

Experts have claimed that handwriting analysis confirms Lech Walesa, who later founded the pro-democracy Solidarity movement, collaborated with Polish communist-era secret police for money between 1970 and 1976.

The analysis of communist-era files signed by agent Bolek, who is believed to be Mr Walesa, "indisputably" proves he signed an agreement to collaborate with the secret police, officials with the state-run Institute of National Remembrance said.

It also shows the 73-year-old wrote reports on co-workers who opposed the regime and signed 17 receipts for money in return, officials said.

Mr Walesa, who won the Nobel Peace prize in 1983 for leading the peaceful Solidarity dissent movement, was not immediately available for comment on the handwriting analysis.

He has strongly denied allegations which he has faced for years that he collaborated with communist-era secret police.

He insists the documents were forged, a claim that led experts to make the handwriting analysis.

The documents surfaced recently at the house of a late former communist-era official and became the focus of attention under the conservative government, which is critical of Mr Walesa and insists on exposing his past.

Jaroslaw Szarek, head of the institute, said the findings do not change the fact that in the 1980s and 1990s Mr Walesa was the symbol of Poland's freedom movement and one of the world's most recognisable figures.

Poland's first popularly-chosen president after communism, Mr Walesa was cleared by a court of the allegations in 2000 because of a lack of evidence but the accusations continue to resurface.

AP

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