Polish leader warns of hostile agents after judge flees to Belarus

DPA
·2 min read
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Donald Tusk, Prime Minister of Poland, makes a press statement after a joint meeting in the German Chancellery. After a Polish judge fled to Belarus, Tusk warned on 07 April that hostile intelligence services are active in his country. "We must not underestimate this matter," Tusk said on the sidelines of a Cabinet meeting. Christoph Soeder/dpa
Donald Tusk, Prime Minister of Poland, makes a press statement after a joint meeting in the German Chancellery. After a Polish judge fled to Belarus, Tusk warned on 07 April that hostile intelligence services are active in his country. "We must not underestimate this matter," Tusk said on the sidelines of a Cabinet meeting. Christoph Soeder/dpa
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After a Polish judge fled to Belarus, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned on Tuesday that hostile intelligence services are active in his country.

"We must not underestimate this matter," Tusk said on the sidelines of a Cabinet meeting.

He said the Belarusian secret services collaborated with someone who had access to the former justice minister, with the latter having been partly responsible for the destruction of the Polish judicial system.

On Monday, Belarusian media reported that judge Tomasz Szmydt from the Warsaw District Administrative Court had requested asylum in Belarus.

He personally asked Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko for "care and protection," Szmydt said in Minsk, according to the BelTA state news agency.

The judge justified his move by saying he was at risk as he does not agree with the current Polish government's policies.

Szmydt reportedly praised Lukashenko as a "very wise leader" and warned that Washington wanted to drag Poland into an armed conflict.

The Polish public prosecutor's office has now opened an investigation into the judge on suspicion of working for a foreign secret service.

Tusk summoned the Cabinet ministers responsible for security to a special meeting on Wednesday.

Tensions are running high between Poland, a member of the EU and NATO, and its neighbour Belarus. Poland is one of Ukraine's biggest supporters, as Kiev seeks to fend off a full-scale Russian invasion. Belarus meanwhile is a close ally of Moscow.

Szmydt made headlines in his home country in 2019 as the Law and Justice (PiS) party government - in office until last year - was trying to push through controversial judicial reforms, causing dismay among judges.

Szmydt and his wife at the time joined a smear campaign on social media targeting judges who were critical of the government's plans.

The public prosecutor's office is still investigating the case.

Polish Justice Minister Adam Bodnar said Szmydt also had access to confidential documents in his role as a judge working for the Warsaw District Administrative Court.

Tusk's coalition defeated the PiS party in a general election on October 15.