The unprecedented situation is assessed in Poland by the authorities and mass media as
treason. Szmydt is lambasted as a 'traitor.' The Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs
Radosław Sikorski and Poland's
National Security Bureau (BBN) chief
Jacek Siewiera consent, the strong suspicion being that this defection is already used for the sake of Russia's
hybrid warfare against the West. This suspicion rests on Szmydt's appeal to Polish politicians that they should 'resume dialog with [Belarusian] President Lukashenko and Russia.' The
Kremlin's leading propagandist
Vladimir Solovyov also invited Szmydt to his primetime program, in which the judge participated twice. Apart from facing potential criminal charges, recently Szmydt was deciding on state functionaries' access to top secret
NATO and EU documents. Now Szmydt hopes to meet President Lukashenko in person and work as a politician or geopolitical analyst in Belarus. Meanwhile, it transpired that the judge had sojourned in Belarus in June 2023 evoking no reaction on the part of the Polish
counterintelligence. Even more worryingly, between 2019 and 2023, Szmydt sojourned in Ukraine 'tens of times' with no official oversight or explanation. After the initial shock, the reactions in Poland resulted in further polarization of the political scene. Accusations are traded between the
current pro-democratic government and the formerly ruling Law and Justice party (now in opposition) on who is responsible for Szmydt's recruitment to provide intelligence to Russia and Belarus. It is one of effects that the Russian propaganda seeks to achieve in a targeted democratic country, namely, 'exacerbating polarisation,' with an eye to 'undermine democracy.'
Russian and Belarusian propaganda coverage As reported by the propaganda-led Russian and Belarusian mass media, on 7 May 2024, Szmydt changed the presumable cause of his defection, citing the danger of 'physical liquidation' in Poland. A day later, he added that upon return to Poland he would be incarcerated on trumped up changes, or would be assassinated in a staged motoring accident or suicide. Hence, Szmydt also asked for the Belarusian president's protection, which should also be extended over his relatives, who remain in Poland. Furthermore, Szmydt requested the Belarusian authorities to deliver to the Polish Ambassy in Minsk his letter of resignation from the law court in Warsaw. In line with the
Russian propaganda's typical modus operandi, the presumed causes of Szmydt's defection are multiplied. Among others, it is proposed, the judge was persecuted for 'telling the truth to power,' that an official probe into his spying for Belarus was imminent, which could result in incarceration, that he maintained 'our Slavic peoples can live in harmony', that he 'refused to hate the Russians,' or that he was compelled to adjudicate in 'breach of his civic conscience.' After discussing the 'causes' of his defection, the Minsk and Moscow propagandists began extracting from Szmydt normative judgements about Poland. The judge proposed that 'the Polish authorities behave abnormally,' 'Poland is not an independent country,' or that 'Polish politicians politicians represent the interests of the United States and the United Kingdom.' He also agreed that Poland's political system is similar to that of
Nazi Germany, and stated that it is more authoritarian than what is observed in Belarus and Russia. Subsequently, the Belarusian and Russian propaganda began stylizing Szmydt as a 'dissident.' On 8 May 2024, Szmydt gave an interview to the Belarusian branch of Russia's propaganda
Sputnik news agency, wearing on the lapel a large
ribbon of Saint George, or the present-day Kremlin's preferred symbol of Russian militarism ('patriotism'), imperialism and the ongoing war against Ukraine. On the other hand, he announced that the Polish population at large 'do not want to fight against Russia, Belarus or Ukraine.' In this context, it is not surprising that on 9 May 2024, Szmydt 'revealed' he was sure that the Polish authorities were getting ready to send to Belarus assassins with the task of liquidating the judge. Yet, it is the Russian government's preferred method of
'dealing' with opponents and defectors. But to lend some credibility to Szmydt's claim, Lukashenko personally assigned a security detail to the fugitive judge. The Belarusian president also promised to consider Szmydt's application for political asylum in Belarus. On 9 May 2024, that is, the
Victory Day (or the most important state holiday in Russia and Belarus), this propaganda coverage reached crescendo. Lukashenko devoted much of his speech to Szmydt. The Belarusian president claimed that Szmydt is not a Belarusian (or Russian) agent but a Polish 'patriot,' who 'tells the truth about what is going on in Poland.' Lukashenko added that Russian President
Vladimir Putin expressed interest in the case of this fugitive judge from Poland. On 3 May 2024, a Telegram channel was created by or on behalf of Tomasz Szmydt. Three days later, it began posting intensively propaganda messages. On 13 May 2024, articles on Szmydt were posted on the Belarusian and Russian Wikipedias, in which he is identified above all as a 'Polish dissident, though nothing is known on the judge's dissident activities prior to his defection to Belarus. ==Biography==