The Military Gendarmerie detained a participant of a reserve training course at the Military Medical Academy (WAM) in Łódź on Friday, 16 October. According to “Rzeczpospolita”, the man is suspected of espionage; on Monday a court is to decide on his temporary arrest.
The detention was confirmed by the spokesperson of the Military Medical Academy, Adam Stępka. As he told “Rzeczpospolita”: “One of the participants of the reserve training course has been detained by the Military Gendarmerie”. Deputy Defence Minister Cezary Tomczyk, quoted by TVP Info, confirmed the detention and added that the person had received Polish citizenship some time ago.
What “Rzeczpospolita” found
According to the daily, the detention was ordered by the Łódź-Polesie District Prosecutor’s Office, and the case was handled by the Military Counterintelligence Service (SKW). The man, named in the report as Wasilij (Vasilij), took part in an officer course at WAM and reportedly holds dual citizenship: Polish and Ukrainian.
During the procedure, several phones, sets of documents, stamps, and a large amount of currency and gold were found on him. The paper does not say what these items were used for, and the local broadcaster TVP3 Łódź notes that it has not been disclosed whether they are directly linked to the suspicion of espionage.
What has not been officially confirmed
The information about espionage is unofficial. Asked about the charges, the spokesperson of the Military Gendarmerie, Lt. Col. Dariusz Rozkosz, told “Rzeczpospolita” that the Military Gendarmerie (ŻW) is not providing information on the matter for now, and referred the question to the prosecutor’s office. As of publication, we have not found any statement from the prosecutor’s office or the ŻW specifying the legal classification of the act. It is also unknown on behalf of which state the detained man allegedly acted. The man is presumed innocent.
According to “Rz”, the detained man is in custody, and on Monday, 19 October, a court is to rule on his further detention and a possible extension of the arrest.
Context: a new university and earlier cases
The Military Medical Academy was established by the Ministry of National Defence (MON) on 1 July, and the academic year was opened on 2 October. The university returns to the map of military education after nearly 25 years: the previous WAM was dissolved in 2002 and gave rise to the Medical University of Łódź.
This is not the first such detention this year. In February, the ŻW, together with the SKW, detained a long-serving employee of the MON; according to “Rzeczpospolita”, he was charged under Article 130 § 2 of the Criminal Code, which carries a penalty of 8 years’ imprisonment to life, and was said to have worked for Belarusian services.
What comes next
The court’s decision on custody and any possible prosecutor’s announcement of charges will be key. Only that will establish whether the suspicion of espionage is confirmed and which provision it concerns. For participants of reserve courses and military personnel, the case mainly means heightened counterintelligence attention during the recruitment and vetting of candidates, although no decisions in this matter have been announced.
Komentarze