DISINFO: There are political prisoners in Poland
SUMMARY
Recently, there was a rally in Warsaw in support of local political prisoners detained for their opposition to state policies. One of them is Artem Dubski, an activist persecuted by the Polish authorities, who expressed a desire to return to Belarus. This rally shows the importance of bringing the issue of a difficult situation of political prisoners [in Poland] to the attention of the international community.
RESPONSE
This message is a part of a wider narrative about the lack of democracy in Western countries. In this case, it promotes the idea that an “aggressive” Poland persecutes people for their political views.
Artem Dubski is a Belarusian national who is under a criminal investigation in Poland for his repeated public humiliation of the Ukrainian refugees living in this country. In 2022, this person left Poland and moved to Russia.
Poland is a democratic country. The pro-Kremlin media often present the arrests of Russian spies and persons violating Polish laws as “political repressions”. The claims that the Polish decision to expel these persons is a violation of the freedom of speech or a “systemic discrimination of the Russian citizens in Poland” are not true, as these well-identified people posed a security threat to Poland.
Read other messages accusing Poland of alleged repressions against the so-called “political dissidents” here, such as The Polish special services persecute anyone appealing for talks with Moscow and Minsk and Warsaw is planning to murder the Polish dissident judge hiding in Belarus.