Polish soldier acquitted over firing shots towards migrants illegally crossing 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 fired shots towards a group of migrants who had illegally crossed the border from Belarus has been acquitted of abusing his powers and threatening the lives or health of others.

The judge in the case said he found no evidence that the accused, who can be named only as Karol S. under Polish privacy law, had committed a crime. Indeed, he said that the soldier had been fulfilling his obligation to defend the border.

The arrest of Karol S., as well as two other soldiers who had fired warning shots towards migrants trying to force their way across the border, caused controversy in 2024, with figures from both the government and opposition criticising the actions of military police and prosecutors.

Since 2021, Poland has faced a migration crisis at the border, where the Belarusian authorities have encouraged and assisted tens of thousands of people – mainly from Asia and Africa – to try to cross illegally.

In response, Poland has bolstered physical and electronic defences along the border and also sent thousands of additional officers there, including many from the armed forces.

During the incident in question, which took place on 24 March 2024, a group of ten migrants had used a car jack to prise apart steel barriers on the border and had crossed to the Polish side. They were carrying ladders, which were intended to be used to get past a further obstacle of razor wire.

Karol S., a private from the 1st Warsaw Armoured Brigade, was among the soldiers and border guard officers to respond. Prosecutors established that he fired a total of 12 shots from his service weapon in the direction of a group that consisted of the migrants, but also other Polish officers, reports the Gazeta Wyborcza daily.

The migrants subsequently retreated to the Belarusian side of the border, while throwing stones and branches at the Polish officers, who responded by spraying tear gas.

Karol S. was later charged by military prosecutors with exceeding his authority and exposing others to immediate danger of loss of life or serious bodily harm. If found guilty, he could have faced up to three years in prison, reports broadcaster TVN.

The soldier, who has discharged himself from the army since the incident, pleaded not guilty, saying that he had clearly shouted “Polish army, stop, or I’ll shoot” before then firing what he said were warning shots that did not endanger others.

On Wednesday, a military court in the city of Lublin sided with Karol S. and acquitted him of the charges. “It should be clearly stated that every soldier has a constitutional obligation to protect the border of Poland,” said the judge, Lieutenant Colonel Ryszard Hunek, quoted by Gazeta Wyborcza.

The judge pointed out that aggression towards Polish officers by migrants crossing the border was common at the time. Just a month later, a Polish soldier died after being stabbed while trying to prevent a crossing.

“What if [Karol S.] had not started shooting?” asked Hunek. “Instead of eleven [migrants], 35 people would have crossed the border and six officers would have stood against them. The law cannot yield to lawlessness…The soldier was sent to the border to protect its inviolability, and that is what he did.”

The judge noted that experts had been unable to determine the direction of the shots Karol S. fired, meaning they could not say whether anyone’s life was exposed to danger. The court’s ruling is not yet final, as it can still be appealed by prosecutors.

When three soldiers were initially detained by military police in 2024, defence minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz called the situation “unacceptable”, saying that he would “always stand on the side of the honour of Polish soldiers”.

Shortly afterwards, however, the commander of the military police defended his officers’ actions, saying that they were “fully justified”.

A few months later, the 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 defences and also introduced a ban on asylum claims by migrants who cross irregularly from Belarus.

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: BBN (under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 PL)

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.