Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) has detained a German citizen suspected of involvement with a terrorist group and of holding radical, extreme-right views. He has been charged with possession of explosives and ammunition.
The spokesman for Poland’s security services, Stanisław Żaryn, confirmed to the Polish Press Agency (PAP) that the man – named only as Jurgen K. under Polish law – was detained by ABW agents in the northern city of Gdańsk last week.
The arrest came as part of an investigation by the National Prosecutor’s Office into “the activities of an organised terrorist group” that operates in Poland and other countries, says Żaryn. Prosecutors have announced that further detentions may follow.
According to PAP, a search of the suspect’s workplace revealed two blocks of TNT weighing a combined 1.2 kilograms, ammunition for firearms, and a tear gas cannister. A spokesman for the National Prosecutor’s Office has confirmed that TNT was found.
PAP also reports that the suspect has “expressed radical anti-system views and supported extreme-right organisations”. Żaryn confirmed to the agency that Jurgen K. had presented extremist views online, mainly in social media.
The man has been charged by prosecutors with illegal possession of explosives and ammunition. He faces up eight years in prison if found guilty on those counts. A court in Gdańsk has accepted a request from prosecutors for the suspect to be detained for three months ahead of a potential trial.
Main image credit: Dariusz Borowicz / Agencja Gazeta
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.
