Minsk 02:28

Senior Belarusian investigator accuses Polish troops of executing migrants

Investigative Committee's coat of arms
(Pozirk)

October 30, Pozirk. A senior Belarusian investigator has accused Polish troops of executing at least 241 illegal migrants, citing testimony from a defector.

“While investigating the criminal case, we repeatedly questioned witness Emil Czeczko, a Polish soldier who had crossed into Belarus,” Alaksandar Rudźko, a department head at the Investigative Committee, told a news conference.

“According to Czeczko, he personally participated in and witnessed the extrajudicial, systematic mass execution of 241 people from June 8 to June 19, 2021. Women and children were among those killed,” he added.

Czeczko helped Belarusian officers sketch Polish soldiers involved in the killings, he said, noting that the executions were led by a Polish counterintelligence officer.

Czeczko’s testimony was the only evidence cited by Rudźko to corroborate the charge.

Czeczko defected to Belarus and asked for political asylum in December 2021, citing his disagreement with Poland’s mistreatment of migrants.

Three months later he was found hanged in a Minsk apartment. He was buried in Belarus.

Also read: Łukašenka claims Polish defector Czeczko was murdered in 2022

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