“He knows that to avoid responsibility for desertion he has to make a deal with the Lukashenko regime or with another country that sympathizes with the Lukashenko regime and is its political ally,” this is what the spokesman for the coordinator of the special services says about the deserter of the Polish Army, who crossed into Belarus. As it results from Stanisław Żaryn’s statement, Lukashenka’s regime got another tool for propaganda, which will be willingly used, because “it has to lie to avoid responsibility”.
The media reported the desertion of a Polish soldier to Belarus on Friday. Earlier, the Belarusian State Border Committee (GPK), the substitute to the Polish Border Guard, gave information about a Polish soldier who asked for asylum in Belarus.
The head of the Ministry of Defense Mariusz Blaszczak dismissed the superiors of Emil Cz. As he communicated on social media, the man had “serious problems with the law and submitted a notice of termination from the army.”
“He should have never been sent to serve at the border,” he stressed. The man’s problems with the law were also previously reported by the media.
Lieutenant General Tomasz Piotrowski, the Operational Commander of the Armed Forces, called the soldier’s action an act of desertion; he also announced a review of recruiting and working with soldiers.
The Spokesman for the Minister Coordinator of Special Services Stanisław Żaryn, who actively reports on the pressure of migrants on the Polish border, spoke out on the issue today. In his opinion, the words of a man who betrayed his country should not be taken at face value.
“The accounts and stories of a deserter who flees to the enemy’s side at the time of a hybrid conflict against Poland are worthless. This man, at his request, has become a hostage of the Belarusian services, which, in addition to destabilizing our border in the field, also conduct aggressive information activities, propaganda activities,” – claims Stanisław Żaryn.
In his opinion, the deserter’s case will be an important tool in Lukashenko’s propaganda, and the escaped man will be happy to use it.
“It is obvious that a deserter from Poland will be used to give credence and justify the theses of Belarusian propaganda. This man must be lying because he knows there is no going back, after what he has done, to Poland. He also knows that to avoid responsibility for desertion he must make a deal with the Lukashenko regime, or with another country that sympathizes with the Lukashenko regime and is its political ally.”- the Spokesman for the Minister Coordinator of Special Services says.
“We are dealing with a man who will be used for propaganda activities against Poland, and let’s remember that these propaganda activities are one of the elements of the aggressive operation against our country.”- he ends.
An APB for a deserter? Investigators are not ruling out this option
It was at the Białystok-Północ District Prosecutor’s Office, Military Affairs Division, that the investigation into the desertion of a Polish soldier and his passage across the border into Belarus was initiated. This is a crime under article 339 par. 3 of the Criminal Code (the so-called foreign desertion described in the chapter on crimes against the obligation to perform military service), i.e., a situation in which a soldier, while deserting, flees abroad or, while abroad, evades returning to the country; …facing between one and 10 years in prison.
Deputy Military Prosecutor for Bialystok-North District Prosecutor Colonel Radoslaw Vishchenko said Saturday that the investigation is in its preliminary stages.
“There were activities performed at the soldier’s place of residence, data carriers were secured. This will be investigated as to whether he planned it or whether it was some ad hoc action,”- the prosecutor added.
Asked about a possible letter of the indictment, he said the prosecutor’s office had not ruled out a motion for temporary arrest that would precede the issuance of such a letter. He noted that before making a decision (on possible temporary arrest), the court must have at its disposal the evidence presented by the investigators, based on which it could issue such a decision.