Court acquits Polish soldier who accidentally shot Syrian refugee at Belarus border

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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.

A Polish soldier who accidentally shot a Syrian refugee who had entered Poland over the border from Belarus has been acquitted of negligent use of a weapon. The Syrian man had been seeking 50,000 zloty (€11,500) in compensation from the soldier.

The verdict was welcomed by defence minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, whose ministry had supported the soldier’s legal defence.

The incident in question took place in November 2023 in Poland’s northeastern Podlasie province. The soldier, named only as Adam Ł. under Polish privacy law and who holds the rank of second lieutenant, had only recently received his first posting to the border, reports legal news service Prawo.pl.

Since 2021, Belarus has been encouraging, assisting and in some cases coercing tens of thousands of migrants, mainly from Asia and Africa, to try to cross into Poland. Among those who make it over the border, most head westwards to Germany, while some have sought to claim international protection in Poland.

In response, Poland has posted thousands of soldiers to the border, where they provide support to the border guard and police. Officers have at times faced violence from migrants trying to cross. In one case, in June 2023, a Polish soldier died after being stabbed.

A few months after that tragedy, Adam Ł. took part in an operation to apprehend a group of migrants who had crossed from Belarus and were around 2 kilometres from the border.

After the soldiers called on the migrants to stop, one of them, a 23-year-old Syrian man, began to flee. As Adam Ł. chased him, the soldier slipped and fell, resulting in his gun, a PM-98 Glauberyt submachine gun, accidentally discharging two rounds.

One bullet hit the Syrian man in the back, close to his spine. The soldier immediately began providing him with first aid, before the Syrian was taken to hospital. He was discharged a few weeks later and, in May 2024, was granted asylum in Poland.

Initially, when it appeared possible that the Syrian could suffer partial paralysis, military prosecutors considered charging Adam Ł. with negligent use of a weapon resulting in serious injury, a crime carrying a prison sentence of up to eight years.

In the end, that was downgraded to a lower charge of negligent use of a weapon causing impairment or a health disorder, which is punishable by up to three years in prison.

The defence ministry provided the soldier with legal counsel from a special team set up in 2024 to defend military personnel. They advised him not to plead guilty.

Eventually, prosecutors asked only that the court impose an indemnity of 2,000 zloty on Adam Ł., to be paid to the Syrian. The Syrian’s lawyer, meanwhile, sought 50,000 zloty for his client.

In a ruling announced on Wednesday, a military court in Warsaw fully acquitted Adam Ł. Judge Michał Żak said that it remained unclear how the incident unfolded. He also pointed to expert evidence commissioned by the court that found the soldier’s gun could have had defects that caused it to fire when it hit the ground.

Those doubts, and a lack of convincing evidence to support the prosecutor’s version of events, meant the charge of negligence could not be proven, found Żak. The verdict can still be appealed. The Syrian’s lawyer said they would wait for the judge’s full written justification before deciding whether to appeal.

Kosiniak-Kamysz, meanwhile, welcomed the ruling in a social media post. “From the very beginning, we provided him with legal assistance,” wrote the defence minister. “A soldier who carries out his duties cannot be left alone, even in a difficult situation.”

In May this year, another soldier was acquitted over an incident in which he fired shots towards a group of migrants who had illegally crossed the Belarussian border. The judge found that, in fact, the soldier had been fulfilling his obligation to defend the Polish border.

In 2024, Poland’s government introduced a new law making it easier for soldiers and other uniformed officers serving at the border to use firearms. They now no longer face criminal liability for employing their weapons in certain cases.

Since then, the government has also further strengthened physical border barriers and banned asylum claims by migrants who cross irregularly from Belarus.

That has been followed by a significant drop in attempted crossings by migrants from Belarus: in the first half of this year, only 250 attempts were recorded, down from 15,500 in the same period of 2025 – a 98% drop. Poland also now claims to have a 100% success rate in apprehending those who do manage to cross.

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: Sławomir Kozioł, 18. Dywizja Zmechanizowana

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.