“The espionage suspect Pavel Rubtsov did not appear in court today. The prosecutor requested a new hearing date and an attempt to notify the accused again. The court granted the motion and set a new hearing for 25 February,” judge Anna Ptaszek, spokesperson for the Warsaw Regional Court, reported.
On Tuesday, a closed hearing was held at the Warsaw Regional Court for Pavel Rubtsov, who is accused of espionage. The man, detained in 2022 by the Internal Security Agency (ABW), was handed over to Russia last year as part of a prisoner exchange.
Rubtsov Did Not Appear in Court
After the hearing, judge Anna Ptaszek stated that the accused had not appeared and that there was no proof he had received the summons. She added that he is most likely residing in Russia.
She explained that since he has been charged with committing a serious crime, under Polish law he must appear at least once in court, hear the indictment, and state whether he pleads guilty, whether he wishes to provide explanations, and be given the opportunity to do so.
“The prosecutor requested that a new hearing date be set and that another attempt be made to notify the accused. The court granted the request and scheduled the new hearing for 25 February,” the judge said.
A Year Ago…
The indictment against Rubtsov – who worked for the Russian military intelligence service GRU and presented himself as a Spanish journalist named Pablo Gonzalez – was submitted last year to the Przemyśl Regional Court. It was later transferred, following a decision of the Rzeszów Court of Appeal, to the Warsaw Regional Court. The man had been held in custody since March 2022. Last year, he was released as part of a prisoner exchange between Western countries and Russia.
“Pablo G. Y., also known as Pavel R., was charged with participating in a foreign intelligence service (the Russian military intelligence service) from April 2016 to February 2022 in Przemyśl, Warsaw and other locations, by providing that service with information whose disclosure could have harmed the Republic of Poland, including Poland as a NATO member state,” prosecutor Przemysław Nowak, spokesperson for the National Prosecutor’s Office, reported in August last year.
The spokesperson also stated that Rubtsov’s activities included obtaining and transmitting information, spreading disinformation, and conducting operational reconnaissance, and that the indictment was prepared by a prosecutor from the Lublin regional division of the Department for Organized Crime and Corruption.
The Warsaw Regional Court announced in March of this year that it had decided to suspend the criminal proceedings, but after re-examining the case in July, the process was resumed.
Rubtsov was detained by the Internal Security Agency (ABW) on 28 February 2022 at the Polish-Ukrainian border, and remained in custody from 2 March 2022 until 31 July 2024. As part of the prisoner exchange between Russia and Western countries, which took place on 1 August 2024 in Ankara, he was handed over to the Russian side – almost “for free.”