Prosecutors name Moroccan migrant suspected of killing Polish soldier in border attack

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Polish prosecutors have named a Moroccan man, Mohamed Addamrou, as the suspect in the 2024 murder of a Polish soldier, Mateusz Sitek, who was fatally stabbed while trying to stop a group of migrants from forcing their way through the border from Belarus to Poland.

However, as Addamrou remains outside Poland – and Belarus has so far not complied with a request to extradite him – prosuectors say they have for now suspended their investigation into the case.

The death of Sitek caused outrage in Poland and prompted the government to further toughen border security measures, including making it easier for officers to use firearms against migrants attempting to illegally cross the border with Belarus.

Since 2021, tens of thousands of migrants – mainly from Asia and Africa – have attempted to cross into the EU with the encouragement and assistance of the Belarusian authorities. Their efforts have often involved violence against Polish border officers, including throwing sticks, stones and, in some cases, Molotov cocktails.

The most serious incident occurred on 28 May 2024, when Sitek was stabbed in the chest with a knife through the fence erected on the border to prevent illegal crossings. A week later, he died of his wounds in hospital.

As part of their investigation, prosecutors interviewed 140 witnesses in Poland and abroad, as well as gathering forensic evidence.

That led them to identify Addamrou, who was, in July last year, charged with murdering a public official, a crime that carries a potential sentence of life in prison. However, his identity was not publicly revealed until now.

After investigators established that the suspect was in Belarus, an extradition request was submitted to Minsk in December 2025. He is also subject to a European Arrest Warrant. However, given that the Addamrou remains at large, prosecutors suspended the case against him last month.

On Tuesday this week, Polish broadcaster RMF reported, based on unnamed sources, that the suspect remains in hiding in Belarus and that investigators believe it is “highly unlikely” that Minsk will extradite him.

Belarus is an ally of Russia and the migration crisis it has engineered on the border with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia is part of Minsk and Moscow’s so-called “hybrid actions” aimed at European countries, which also include arson, sabotage and disinformation.

In the wake of Sitek’s death, the Polish government moved to introduce new rules making it easier for uniformed officers to use firearms at the border. The bill was subsequently approved almost unanimously by parliament in July 2024 and signed into law by then-President Andrzej Duda the following month.

The government has also strengthened physical and electronic barriers at the border, and banned asylum claims by people who cross illegally. As a result, border crossings have fallen significantly.

Last month, a Polish soldier who fired shots towards a group of migrants who had illegally crossed the border from Belarus (in an incident that happened before Sitek’s death) was acquitted of abusing his powers and threatening the lives or health of others.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Ministry of National Defence of Lithuania/Wikimedia Commons (under GNU Free Documentation License)

Olivier Sorgho

Olivier Sorgho is senior editor at Notes from Poland, covering politics, business and society. He previously worked for Reuters.