June 5, Pozirk. Ex-Judge Tomasz Szmydt, who defected from Poland to Belarus in early May, wants to sue Poland’s Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, Belarusian state-run media reported.
Szmydt accused the Polish top diplomat of defaming him by “repeatedly calling him a traitor.”
“I am not a traitor, there is no such article and I have never been convicted of treason,” he said during a visit to the Museum of Polish-Soviet Comradeship in Arms in Lenina, Horki district, Mahiloŭ region.
“A minister has no right to make such statements without a trial,” he added.
He said he will send his lawsuit to the Polish Prosecutor General by regular mail and email.
Earlier, Szmydt claimed that he “was persecuted and threatened for his independent political position” in Poland and was forced to flee because of disagreement with the government’s policy.
The Polish Supreme Administrative Court dismissed Szmydt after his defection, sanctioning his arrest and prosecution for alleged spying.
The Warsaw District Court ruled to arrest Szmydt for three months without the defendant being present.
In the most recent development, Interpol refused to issue a red notice for the ex-judge, noting that national security threats, including espionage, are not covered by its area of responsibility.
