The judge said this at a press conference in Minsk, signing his resignation letter, Ukrinform reported, citing the website Onet.pl.
“Why did I come to you?” As for the situation in my country, this is a protest against Poland’s policy towards Belarus and Russia,” said T. Schmidt. He noted that he is seeking political asylum in Belarus, adding that this is currently an unofficial request.
The Polish judge read his resignation letter in Polish and added that he “wants to rest in Belarus.”
“I would like to show the people of European countries Belarus as I see it, as a foreigner. It is a very friendly country,” said the Polish judge. The real reasons for his visit to Belarus are currently unknown.
Polish media reports that a few years ago this judge was involved in a high-profile case of pressure on judges by former justice minister Zbigniew Ziobr in Mateusz Morawiecki’s government. In 2022, this judge told several Polish opposition media outlets about a circle of judges close to the government who collected compromising information about their colleagues allegedly disloyal to the government of the day. At that time, he explained his confession by not wanting the authorities to take advantage of him.
Reacting to the judge’s current escape to Belarus, Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said on Monday that he was awaiting a report from Polish special services on the judge’s case. According to him, it is necessary to check the previous activity of this judge.
This is not the first time that a Polish citizen has requested political asylum in Belarus. In December 2021, Polish soldier Emil Czeczko, who served on the border with Belarus, defected to Belarus. According to the Belarusian side, the soldier “did not agree with the policy pursued by Poland in the context of the migration crisis and the practice of inhumane treatment of refugees.” Mariusz Blaszczak, the head of Poland’s defense ministry, later said Czeczko had serious problems with the law, resigned from the army and should not have been allowed to cross the border. Three months later, E. Czeczko was found dead in his rented apartment in Minsk. The official version of his death was suicide.
