Tomasz Szmydt
Polish jurist / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tomasz Szmydt (Polish pronunciation: [tɔmaʃ ʃmɨt]; born 27 April 1970 in Białystok, eastern Poland[1]) is a former[2] Polish jurist, employed as a judge in the Regional Administrative Court in Warsaw.[3] He adjudicated in the law court's second department on access to classified information in regard of members of the Polish military and intelligence.[4]
This article is an orphan, as no other articles link to it. Please introduce links to this page from related articles; try the Find link tool for suggestions. (May 2024) |
The political neutrality of this article is disputed. This article may contain biased or partisan political opinions about a political party, event, person or government stated as facts. (May 2024) |
On 1 May 2024,[5] via Turkey,[6] he defected to Belarus, where he applied for political asylum to 'temporarily rest [...] in an open and friendly country.'[7] The judge most likely was extracted from Poland by the Belarusian security forces.[8][9] Szmydt would have rather defected to Russia, but due to the short-visit visa waiver for Polish citizens to enter Belarus, he chose the latter country to avoid raising the Polish Foreign Intelligence Agency's suspicions.[10] On 6 May 2024, the Belarusian state-owned governmental news agency BelTA held a press conference in Minsk, during which Szmydt praised the Belarusian authorities,[11] proposing that Belarus is ‘a country with great potential,’ headed by ‘a very wise leader.’[12] Alexander Lukashenko, the President of Belarus, reciprocated; dubbing the fugitive judge 'a brave man'[13] Szmydt later explained that he fled to Belarus in order to 'protest to the Polish authorities who under the influence of the US and the UK are leading the country to war.'[14]
At this conference, Szmydt presented his signed letter of resignation from the post of a judge in the Regional Administrative Court in Warsaw.[15] The Regional Court announced that they were unaware of this letter, while Szmydt was on his annual leave through 10 May 2024.[16] On 7 May 2024, the Regional Court initiated disciplinary proceedings regarding the judge's case.[17] In reply to the request lodged by National Public Prosecutor's Office (Prokuratura Krajowa), on 9 May 2024, the Supreme Administrative Court of Poland waived the judge's immunity.[18][19] Furthermore, the Supreme Administrative Court also accepted the judge's public resignation. As a result Szmydt ceased being a judge.[20][21]