Renata Beger

Renata Beger
Member of Sejm
Personal details
Born	1958
Nationality	Polish
Political party	Samoobrona

Renata Beger (born 18 July 1958, in Silno, Pomeranian Voivodeship) is a Polish politician, a prominent member of the populist political party Samoobrona and a member of the Sejm (lower chamber of the Polish parliament) between 2001 and 2007.

Beger became a vice-chairman of the local Wielkopolska voivodship Samoobrona board in 1992, and served in that function until 2001, when she was elected to the Sejm as a representative for the Piła district. She gained some media attention, as well as became an object of ridicule, mostly due to her relatively low education for a member of Parliament (see below) and lack of experience with affairs of state, as well as devout support for her party's leader, Andrzej Lepper.

Beger's gained more notoriety when she was delegated by her party to serve in a special committee set up to investigate a major corruption scandal that marred the fourth term of the Polish parliament, the Rywin affair. The committee's sittings, which included hearings of witnesses, were televised live and became some of the most publicized and discussed events in Poland at their time. Beger became notorious for her unique style of conducting those and very unusual questions, and her alleged lack of knowledge or experience in many areas the committee was dealing with.

During her first term in parliament, Beger was accused of counterfeiting signatures on the lists of citizens supporting her parliamentary candidacy (required to register as a candidate in Poland). In November 2003, as the issue became pursued by a prosecutor, Beger renounced her legal immunity as a member of the Sejm, as well as was expelled from the special committee in October. Formal proceedings began only in November 2004, and extended well into Beger's second term. She was formally convicted of counterfeit on 30 June 2006 and sentence of 2 years of incarceration suspended for 5 years.

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