BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

17/07/2007

Poland declines to comment on Belarus arrest of five alleged spies as no Polish citizens involved

Poland's Foreign Ministry Tuesday refused to comment on recent Belarusian State Security Committee (KGB) reports saying it uncovered five spies who allegedly gathered classified data on Belarusian and Russian air defense systems for the Polish government, but affirmed that no Polish citizens were detained in Belarus on espionage charges.

"We do not have any intentions to comment on the subject," Grzegorz Korczynski from the Information System Department at the Polish Foreign Ministry told Interfax Central Europe Tuesday. "Polish citizens are not involved in this affair."

The Belarusian KGB Friday arrested five individuals, whom it called spies working for the Polish authorities. Four of them were Belarusian citizens and the fifth a Russian.

KGB deputy head Viktor Vegera said at the time that the five suspected spies - former servicemen - had been arrested on suspicion of gathering intelligence for Poland. The KGB also claimed that criminal cases were opened against all five on charges of high treason and espionage.

Meanwhile, a Belarusian prosecutor is preparing charges against the detainees. The criminal case into suspected Polish spies in Belarus has not yet been submitted to court, a source in the Belarusian Supreme Court told Interfax earlier Tuesday.

Source:

http://gielda.wp.pl/POD,6,a,1,b,1,c,11,index.html?P%5Bnumer%5D=9029934&P%5Bobr%5D=ifx