TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarus has granted asylum to a former Polish judge accused of espionage at home after his May defection to the Kremlin-allied country.
A decree published on Friday by Alexander Lukashenko, the autocratic president of Belarus, described Tomasz Szmydt as “persecuted for political reasons” in Poland. The country is a member of the EU and NATO and has provided vocal support to Ukraine in its war against Russian aggression.
Szmydt’s defection to Belarus in May made Poland a prime target for Russian intelligence activities and ignited a bitter political row over the circumstances of his rapid rise through the ranks of the Polish legal system.
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Polish prosecutors and special services launched an investigation the same month after Belarusian media reported that Szmydt had arrived in the country and asked for protection. Warsaw responded days later by putting Szmydt on a wanted list, a step toward an international arrest warrant on espionage charges that would limit his ability to travel internationally.
Polish officials have tried to determine how damaging Szmydt’s knowledge of classified information could be to the interests of Warsaw and its Western allies. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has publicly called him a traitor.
Szmydt fled to Belarus after resigning as a judge at the Warsaw Administrative Court. He said in a public statement that he did this in protest against Poland’s “harmful and unjust” policies towards Belarus and Russia. A short time later, he appeared at a press conference in Belarus, where he praised Lukashenko’s regime and presented himself as a victim of repression.
A Polish court lifted Szmydt’s immunity later that month, allowing him to be tried in absentia on espionage charges he has denied.
Szmydt was infamous in Poland for being involved in an online smear campaign against other judges in 2019, which was sponsored by the Justice Ministry under the previous right-wing government. Three years later he appeared to switch sides, appearing in a TV documentary to expose what he said was unethical behavior by judges close to the ruling party.
Szmydt’s defection came as a shock in Poland, which has a history of mistrust of Russia.
Belarus has been one of the Kremlin’s few close allies since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Lukashenko has relied on Moscow’s subsidies and support. In return, he has allowed Moscow to use Belarusian territory to send troops and weapons to the neighboring state, and to deploy tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory.
Authorities in Minsk have stepped up repressive measures ahead of January presidential elections in which the strong leader is seeking a seventh term in office, including arresting hundreds of people who have shown solidarity with Kiev.
Authorities responded to mass protests following Lukashenko’s widely disputed 2020 election with a broad crackdown that saw around 65,000 people arrested. Key opposition figures have been jailed or fled the country, and human rights activists say Belarus is holding around 1,300 political prisoners.
