A lawyer arrested in Poland on Wednesday on suspicion of spying for a foreign state worked on a Polish gas project which officials view as strategically vital because it will cut dependence on imported Russian gas. Polish law only allows the man to be identified by his first name and the first two letters of his surname: Stanislaw Sz.
According to a profile on the website of law firm Stopczyk & Mikulski, that listed him as an employee, Stanislaw Sz. was a member of the legal team working on a project to build a terminal for importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) at Poland's Baltic Sea port of Swinoujscie. His employment at the law firm was confirmed by a source who knows the arrested lawyer.
There has so far been no comment on the allegations of spying from the Russian authorities. It was not immediately possible to reach lawyers representing the suspects. The terminal is scheduled to come on stream next year, initially importing gas from Qatar, and Polish officials say it will give Poland an alternative to supplies from Russian gas giant Gazprom. The Polish government believes its current dependence on Russian gas threatens national security because Warsaw has fraught relations with Moscow. These have been aggravated by the standoff between Russia and the West over Ukraine.
No one answered calls to the law firm's office on Friday evening or Saturday morning, and the firm did not respond to an emailed request for comment. The lawyer was arrested on Wednesday by Poland's Internal Security Agency (ABW), along with a second spying suspect - a lieutenant-colonel in the Polish military. Prosecutors announced the arrests, but did not reveal the country the men are alleged to have been working for. A Polish lawmaker briefed on the case by intelligence officials said they are suspected of being Russian agents.
A Reuters reporter saw the lawyer who is under arrest being escorted in handcuffs along a corridor on Friday in a Warsaw court building where a judge ordered him held in custody for three months pending trial. On the Internet site of the law firm, Stopczyk & Mikulski, Stanislaw Sz. is not listed as a current employee. However, his employee profile can be viewed on a cached page of the website.
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