The Military Police detained three soldiers guarding the Polish border with Belarus at the wall. Reason? They fired warning shots when immigrants attacked them.
The Polish army, police, and border guards rarely use firearms at the border with Belarus, as on the other side of the wall, there are not only migrants brought there by the regime of Alexander Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin but also KGB officers. The Homeland Defense Act allows uniformed officers to fire shots "in a manner appropriate to the threat and within the limits of the principles set out in ratified international agreements binding on the Republic of Poland and customary international law."
The incident occurred in March/April in Dubicze Cerkiewne. As the portal 'Onet' reported, about 50 migrants attempted to cross the border wall. They were aggressive and did not care about the warning shots fired. When the soldiers found themselves in a life-threatening situation, they fired dozens of shots into the ground. Only then did the immigrants retreat. Instead of support, the soldiers were arrested by the Military Police.
- Three boys from our company were led away in handcuffs like bandits. Proceedings were initiated against two of them and they were suspended. They were released from custody only because we organized a collection in the battalion to get them a lawyer. The commanding officer was not interested in helping them in any way. Soldiers are not legally protected by their superiors. There are legal advisers in the units, but they do not help the soldiers - one of the witnesses of the event told Onet.
The scandal is growing two months after the events after the media published information about it. The Minister of Defense is in hot water after he claimed to get upset about it now, after 2 months.
PN: It's a good thing that those soldiers are alive today. That's the only thing that matters. The situation explains why so many Polish soldiers get wounded on the border and don't defend themselves even though they are armed and have a right to do so.
- Based on reporting by Niezalezna and Onet.
