Polish judge applies for asylum in Belarus in protest over Poland's policy on Russia

By Jo Harper

WARSAW (AA) – A Polish judge on Monday announced that he has applied for political asylum in Belarus, in protest over Warsaw’s policy on Russia.

Polish judge Tomasz Szmydt on Monday announced at a press conference at the headquarters of BelTA, the state-owned Belarusian news agency in Minsk, that he had asked the Belarusian authorities for political asylum.

“This is a protest against Poland's policy towards Belarus and Russia,” Tomasz Szmydt, a judge of the Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw, said at a news conference at the headquarters of BelTA, the state-owned Belarusian news agency, in Belarus’ capital Minsk.

Szmydt accused the Polish government of “leading the country to war under the influence of the US and UK.”

“The Polish nation supports peace and good neighborly relations with Belarus and Russia,” he added. “And that is why I am in Minsk and am ready to tell the truth.”

He also praised Belarusian leader Aleksander Lukashenko as a “very wise leader” who has “done a lot to keep peace in our region,” according to BelTA.

“Due to disagreement with the policy and actions of the authorities, I was forced to leave my home country and I am currently staying in Belarus,” wrote Szmydt on Telegram on Monday. “I have been persecuted and intimidated for my independent political stance,” he added.

Szmydt and his former wife were accused in 2019 of conducting a smear campaign against judges critical of the former Law and Justice (PiS) government’s judicial reforms.

Poland’s new pro-EU government has been embroiled since late last year in a political spat over interference made by the ousted PiS government in the Polish judiciary.

Poland has also been at the forefront of demanding sanctions against Belarusian and Russian individuals and companies since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022.

During a press briefing later on Monday in Warsaw, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski commented on the decision. “This is an absolutely shocking case,” he said.