A Polish court has placed a Belarusian suspect in three months pre-trial detention after being detained by the Internal Security Agency (ABW) on suspicion of committing acts of sabotage for foreign intelligence.
An interior ministry spokesperson said the detainee was suspected of being a member of an international organized crime ring carrying out espionage and sabotage in Poland.
The ABW said in a statement on its website that the suspect had been arrested in Warsaw on November 6 for attempted arson on a building in the port city of Gdańsk.
“This is a further arrest in an investigation into the actions of an international organized crime ring which – on the orders of foreign special services – has committed acts of sabotage, specifically arson,” the statement read.
It added: “In January and May, ABW detained citizens of Poland, Ukraine and Belarus responsible for arson on buildings in Gdańsk, Gdynia and Marki [near Warsaw] who also made preparations for arson in Wrocław [southwestern Poland].”
If convicted, the man faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.
In June, Poland’s interior minister, Tomasz Siemoniak, said 18 people had been detained over the previous six months on suspicion of acting on behalf of Russia and Belarus.
At least one of the suspects was accused of plotting to assassinate Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Another 10 were believed to have plotted sabotage, including arson, at sites across Poland.
Western intelligence agencies have repeatedly warned of organized sabotage campaigns orchestrated by Moscow and Minsk.
