Fugitive Polish Judge Says Feared for His Life After Receiving Threats in Poland

MINSK (Sputnik) - Tomasz Szmydt, a Polish judge who fled to Belarus after facing political persecution at home, said Tuesday that he had received threats while living in Poland that made him fear for his life.

"There were threats, phone calls. People I didn't know came up to me and told me to disappear … or else something might happen to me," he told Sputnik.

The Warsaw Voivodeship Administrative Court judge said he felt safe in Belarus. He announced in Minsk on Monday that he was seeking political asylum in the country.

Szmydt told Sputnik he had been warned about an investigation underway into him in Poland on espionage charges, which added to his resolve to flee abroad.

The Polish chief prosecutor's office confirmed on Monday that Szmydt was being probed for spying, while the spokesperson for Poland's minister-special services coordinator said the Internal Security Agency had been looking into whether he had access to classified information.

"Going back to Poland now means going to prison. They have already launched a procedure to accuse me of spying for Belarus and Russia. I was notified that the procedure was underway, which is why I left for Belarus," he explained.

Szmydt said he faced a criminal trial back in Poland because he had access to secret information, although he denied bringing Polish secrets to Belarus.

"I did not bring any classified documents here. I did not tell any secrets. No one asked me to," the fugitive judge said.

Commenting on Ukraine, Szmydt told Sputnik that Poland was being dragged into a direct armed conflict in Ukraine.

"[Polish] mercenaries and so-called instructors are already there. We are talking about the official deployment of troops," he said.