Polish judge flees to Belarus, asks for asylum

May 6, Pozirk. Tomasz Szmydt, a Polish judge, has submitted an unofficial asylum request in Belarus, says a Telegram channel created three days ago.

Szmydt said he was forced to leave Poland because of disagreement with the government’s policy. He claimed that he “was persecuted and threatened for his independent political position.”

The Pole asked Alaksandar Łukašenka for protection and signed his resignation at a press conference set up by BelTA, a state-run news agency in Minsk.

In 2019, Szmydt and his wife were involved in a smear campaign targeting judges who opposed judicial reforms by the Law and Justice (PiS) government that was in power in Poland at that time.

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski told tvn24.pl that he was “shocked” by Szmydt’s defection.

In 2021, Emil Czeczko, a Polish soldier fled to Belarus amid the migrant crisis. In televised interviews, he accused Polish border guards of committing atrocities.

In 2022, Czeczko was found hanged at a Minsk apartment.

Relations between Belarus and Poland are currently at a low point with tension persisting over the political persecution of ethnic Poles in Belarus, Minsk’s alleged role in facilitating illegal migration from Asia and Africa into Poland, Łukašenka’s anti-Polish rhetoric and support for the Russian war against Ukraine.

Also read: Polish defector Czeczko found dead