Thanks to the joint efforts of lawyers from the National Anti-Crisis Management (NAM) and the legal firm "KOPEĆ & ZABOROWSKI", a decision by the Warsaw District Court has been secured, effectively opening up the possibility for justice on behalf of Belarusian citizens who have been subjected to torture in Belarus.
The main legal question hindering progress on these cases was whether Poland could take jurisdiction over crimes committed outside its borders, involving individuals who are not Polish citizens.
After reviewing the legal arguments, the court answered affirmatively: yes, in cases involving crimes of a terrorist nature.
The District Court’s decision is based on two articles of Polish Criminal Law: Article 110, Paragraph 1 of the Polish Criminal Code, which addresses crimes of a terrorist nature, and Article 113, which provides for prosecution based on international treaties.
Together, these provisions create grounds to petition Polish prosecutors to investigate cases involving torture committed against Belarusian citizens.
During the meeting, opinions were exchanged on the current status of criminal investigations prompted by complaints from Belarusian citizens, and a strategy was developed for further actions by the NAM and the legal firm "KOPEĆ & ZABOROWSKI" in working with Polish prosecutors on these cases.
For example, the National Prosecutor's Office in Poland, in its Department for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption in Lublin, has already accumulated 70 volumes of documentation on crimes committed by representatives of the Lukashenko regime, including crimes against Belarusian citizens.
"We understand that the path to achieving justice, unfortunately, requires considerable time, but the NAM team will continue working diligently to ensure that those responsible for crimes against Belarusians are not able to evade criminal accountability", stated NAM head Pavel Latushka.
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