Warsaw’s Regional Military Court has sentenced an officer of the Polish Army to six years in prison for spying for Russia.
The ruling, which was issued last month, is pending appeal. Lieutenant Colonel Zbigniew J. (name withheld under Polish privacy laws) entered a no contest plea, news agency PAP reports. The court also stripped the defendant of civic rights for a period of five years and ruled a forfeiture of his mobile phone and PLN 16,500 (EUR 3,700), acquired as a result of his criminal activity.
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Zbigniew J. was an employee of the Defence Ministry’s department of education when he was arrested in October 2014. The public prosecutor’s office charged him with espionage for foreign intelligence services and passing sensitive information considered potentially harmful for Poland. While the details of the case were not disclosed, members of the parliamentary committee for special services said the defendant had been accused of collaborating with the military intelligence of Russia’s Armed Forces.
