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Poland Charges Warsaw Lawyer With Spying For Russia


Poland has charged a Warsaw lawyer with dual Polish-Russian citizenship with spying for Russian military intelligence, a prosecutor has said.

The lawyer is identified only as Stanislaw Sz. under Poland's privacy law. Polish media say he is the son of a former Russian national goalkeeper who settled in Poland in 1991 with his family.

The man was charged in an indictment in late April with spying for Russian military intelligence, the GRU, against Poland's interests between 2012 and 2014. The suspect could face up to 10 years in prison, if convicted.

The lawyer was apprehended in 2014, on the same day as a Polish Army lieutenant colonel also suspected of spying for Russia, and he remains under arrest.

Polish media said his law firm had a role in the construction of Poland's first liquid-gas terminal in Szczecin, on the Baltic Sea, that will allow overseas gas imports and limit those from Russia.

Fuel issues have strategic importance in Poland, which is trying to cut its dependence on Russian gas and oil imports.

Based on reporting by AP and AFP

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