BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

19/12/2006

Belarussian Man Suspected of Spying

The Moscow Times

Suspected spy Sergei Monich entering a courtroom in the Lithuanian capital on Monday for an extradition hearing.

The Polish government has requested that Lithuania hand over a citizen of Belarus whom it suspects of espionage.

A court in Vilnius on Monday considered the extradition request for suspected spy Sergei Monich. The judge in the case, Linas Zukauskas, told Interfax that he would issue a ruling Friday.

Poland sent the request to the Lithuanian prosecutor general's office two weeks ago, and prosecutors subsequently asked the court to approve the extradition.

Monich was detained in Vilnius three weeks ago.

Polish law enforcement officials suspect Monich of attempting to recruit Poles to spy against their government.

Polish prosecutor Janusz Kaczmarek told reporters in Vilnius on Monday that, over the course of several years, Monich had met with Polish citizens in Lithuania and other countries in order to recruit them and to purchase secret information, Interfax reported.

The Lithuanian State Security Department is also investigating Monich's activities to determine if he was involved in recruiting agents to spy against Lithuania.

Source:

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/12/19/014.html

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