A military court in Lublin found Polish serviceman Karol S. not guilty of exceeding his authority in a case involving gunfire at the border with Belarus.
Prosecutors had argued that the soldier exceeded his authority on March 25, 2024, when near Dubicze Cerkiewne he fired 12 shots along a border road toward a group consisting of migrants who had illegally crossed the border, as well as Border Guard officers and other Polish army soldiers.
According to TVP, Judge Radosław Hunek rejected the prosecution’s arguments that Karol S. lost his status as a soldier while serving under the authority of the Border Guard at the border. In the judge’s opinion, the defendant remained a serviceman in this case. The judge also took into account the defense’s argument that the soldier was a highly qualified marksman. According to him, “if he had wanted to kill someone, he would have done so,” and none of the border guards in the area at the time felt threatened.
