Former Polish Minister of Defense Mariusz Błaszczak has been charged with declassifying part of the country’s eastern defense plan, which could result in a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
According to RAR, the case relates to Błaszczak’s actions in September 2023, when he published part of the “Warta” plan, which concerns the use of the Polish Armed Forces. In his speech during the parliamentary election campaign, he claimed that politicians from the “Civic Platform,” who were in power before, had planned to “surrender half of the country to the enemy” in case of an invasion.
The Polish prosecutor’s office stated that the information published by Błaszczak had not been properly declassified at the time of its release. As a result, at the prosecutor’s request, the Sejm removed his parliamentary immunity on March 6. On Friday, Błaszczak appeared at the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw, where the charges were presented. He rejected them, asserting that he had the right and duty to declassify archival documents.
Prosecutor Marcin Maksyan stated after Błaszczak’s questioning that the former minister was charged with exceeding his authority, and he faces imprisonment for a term ranging from one to 10 years.
Additionally, in July 2024, the Polish Sejm supported the removal of Błaszczak’s immunity in connection with an accusation of “public insult” regarding an incident involving an unidentified missile near the city of Bydgoszcz in April 2023. At that time, the remains of a Russian missile, which had entered Polish airspace in December 2022, were found near the town of Zamość.
