The flight of a judge to Belarus is causing a stir in Poland. The lawyer gives the reason that he is being “persecuted and intimidated”. Poland’s services are alarmed: the man had access to state secrets.
Tomasz Szmydt didn’t get in touch until he was already in Belarus. But then publicly via a press conference. Polish judge Szmydt praises Alexander Lukashenko as a “wise leader”. He explains that he was “persecuted and intimidated” in Poland and is applying for political asylum from the Belarusian regime.
Secret information for Belarus?
In Poland, Judge Szmydt’s “escape” caused a great stir and led to investigations by the secret services. The judge, who was part of a hate campaign against other judges under the PiS, also had access to secret documents about Poland’s military as part of his office. There is great concern that Szmydt is not only a well-known judge, but also secret information in the hands of the Belarusian services.
Something must have gone wrong. That was the realization in the days following Szmydt’s appearance on Belarusian television. Szmydt is a Polish judge and – as Polish media are now reporting – has apparently been under surveillance by the domestic secret service and counterintelligence for a long time. Actually, he should have been stopped at the border at the latest, but Szmydt left – flew via Turkey to Belarus.
There he explains himself at a press conference: “My resignation as a judge is also a protest against the unjust and harmful policies of the Polish authorities towards the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation (…), against measures that directly involve my country in armed conflict conflict with Belarus and the Russian Federation.”
Smear campaign against judges critical of PiS
The Belarusian dictator Lukashenko is a “wise leader” from whom he has asked for political asylum. Szmydt has presumably had contact with Belarusian services for some time.
But he is threatened with prosecution for completely different reasons. As a high-ranking employee of the State Judicial Council, a body for appointing judges that was reshuffled by the then PiS government, Szmydt helped orchestrate a smear campaign against judges critical of PiS in 2019.
In the so-called “hate affair”, he had his then wife spread slander and hate speech against his colleagues on social networks under a false name. The couple later admitted the campaign and separated.
Szmydt was transferred to an administrative court. He apparently took his anger at the PiS’s political opponents with him. That’s why he’s now a political refugee: “If I become a vested interest of the Polish, American or British security services, they will deal with the matter in a different way. It could be a car accident or suicide. For me there is no turning back if I am “I want to stay alive.”
Tusk: Reason for grave concern
And it can certainly be useful for Belarus and Russia. As a judge, Szmydt also had access to classified documents about, among other things, the Polish military.
His high position under the PiS government, his proximity to the Ministry of Justice and his alleged relationship with Belarusian secret services are cause for greatest concern, says Prime Minister Donald Tusk: “What we are also observing in other European countries, i.e. attempts to undermine the legal system and democracy to undermine, through agents and provocations, but also through aggression in the digital space – everything is becoming increasingly synchronized and leaves no room for illusions as to Moscow and Minsk’s goals for the next few months.”
Danger to national security
From Warsaw’s perspective, Judge Szmydt’s sideways stance is a threat to national security. The public prosecutor’s office is now investigating. And the Polish government wants to change the rules for judges and prosecutors. In the future, they should no longer automatically have access to state secrets.