Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has said he will grant protection to Tomasz Szmydt, a Polish judge who fled to Minsk.
Szmydt, a judge at the Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw, asked the Belarusian authorities for “care and protection” in Minsk on Monday.
He told a press conference in Minsk that he had been forced to leave Poland “due to disagreement with the policy and actions of the current authorities.” He claims to have been persecuted and harassed due to his independent political views.
Lukashenka, quoted by his press service on Thursday, called the judge “a normal, patriotic Pole… who is not a traitor.”
The Belarusian strongman added that remarks about Belarus and Russia recruiting spies in the West were “utter nonsense.”
“It is a blow… for Polish authorities,” Lukashenka said. “That’s why they started [saying that] he is a traitor.”
According to him, Szmydt “looks at things realistically, compares Poland and Belarus, and draws conclusions.”
The Belarusian president related the judge’s case to that of a Polish soldier, Emil Czeczko, who also fled to Belarus seeking asylum in 2021. The following year, Belarusian authorities announced that he had been found dead after he apparently “hanged himself” in his home in Minsk.
Lukashenka now claimed that “Czeczko was killed” and suggested that Szmydt might also be in danger. He explained that he granted him protection “so that these scoundrels do not kill this man.”
Gift for the regime
“This is a real gift for [Belarussian] propaganda,” said Valer Karbalevich, a Belarusian political analyst. “People are massively fleeing Belarus for political reasons, and now Lukashenka can convince them that there are escapes from the West too.”
On Wednesday, the National Prosecutor’s Office (PK) opened an investigation into Szmydt’s alleged cooperation with the foreign intelligence service on the territory of Poland and Belarus.
On Thursday, the Supreme Administrative Court (NSA) accepted Szmydt’s resignation from his position, followed by a disciplinary court waiving his immunity.
He told a press conference in Minsk that he had been forced to leave Poland “due to disagreement with the policy and actions of the current authorities.” He claims to have been persecuted and harassed due to his independent political views.
Lukashenka, quoted by his press service on Thursday, called the judge “a normal, patriotic Pole… who is not a traitor.”
The Belarusian strongman added that remarks about Belarus and Russia recruiting spies in the West were “utter nonsense.”
“It is a blow… for Polish authorities,” Lukashenka said. “That’s why they started [saying that] he is a traitor.”
According to him, Szmydt “looks at things realistically, compares Poland and Belarus, and draws conclusions.”
The Belarusian president related the judge’s case to that of a Polish soldier, Emil Czeczko, who also fled to Belarus seeking asylum in 2021. The following year, Belarusian authorities announced that he had been found dead after he apparently “hanged himself” in his home in Minsk.
Lukashenka now claimed that “Czeczko was killed” and suggested that Szmydt might also be in danger. He explained that he granted him protection “so that these scoundrels do not kill this man.”
Gift for the regime
“This is a real gift for [Belarussian] propaganda,” said Valer Karbalevich, a Belarusian political analyst. “People are massively fleeing Belarus for political reasons, and now Lukashenka can convince them that there are escapes from the West too.”
On Wednesday, the National Prosecutor’s Office (PK) opened an investigation into Szmydt’s alleged cooperation with the foreign intelligence service on the territory of Poland and Belarus.
On Thursday, the Supreme Administrative Court (NSA) accepted Szmydt’s resignation from his position, followed by a disciplinary court waiving his immunity.
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