Media: 10 criminal cases of military exceeding their powers on eastern border being investigated in Poland

The Polish Military Prosecutor’s Office is currently investigating ten criminal cases against military personnel who are accused of exceeding their powers on the country’s eastern border, TASS reports

Rzeczpospolita newspaper reported that 9 cases were initiated in 2024, and 1 case was launched in 2023. The servicemen are suspected of ‘endangering the life and health of migrants’. The investigation is currently underway in Warsaw, Bialystok and Siedlce. The newspaper does not provide any details of the charges.

Rzeczpospolita recalls that from January to late June 2024, Polish border guards and military personnel guarding the border used firearms when detecting illegal migrants 1,300 times, firing warning shots into the air. In 2023, there were only 320 such cases.

According to the publication, 6,000 military personnel and 1,500 border guards and police officers are stationed on the Polish-Belarusian border.