A court has ordered a 55-year-old Russian citizen detained in Świdnica to be held in custody for three months. The man is suspected of working on behalf of foreign intelligence. Police caught him as he photographed passing trains and railway infrastructure in the city.
According to a police statement released Friday, officers who analyzed the data storage devices in the man’s possession found hundreds of thousands of files on similar subjects. They were photographic records of various locations and important transportation facilities, not only in Poland.
The 55-year-old was detained during a police operation tied directly to securing a soccer match played in Świdnica. After the game ended, officers patrolled the city to check whether any hooligans were gathering anywhere.
During that patrol, they noticed a Volkswagen passenger car parked at an unguarded railroad crossing. A man was inside, and he quickly backed out and drove away as soon as he spotted the uniformed officers. The officers drove in the same direction and saw the same vehicle again near a railway overpass.
Police said the man was standing next to the car, became nervous when he saw the officers and tried to get back into the vehicle quickly. Officers stepped in, and it turned out he had professional photographic equipment, which he had used to take pictures of trains and railway infrastructure.
The man was taken to the County Police Headquarters in Świdnica. Investigators established that he had come to Poland for work.
Świdnica police worked with officers from the Wrocław branch of the Central Cybercrime Bureau. While analyzing the seized equipment, they found hundreds of thousands of files on closely related subjects. The photographs showed, among other things, important railway and transportation infrastructure, including facilities described as critical, not only in Poland.
The 55-year-old was detained and then, in cooperation with the District Prosecutor’s Office in Świdnica, was charged under Article 130, Section 1 of the Criminal Code. The charge concerns working for foreign intelligence against the Republic of Poland, by photographing elements of railway and transportation infrastructure and production facilities with the intent of passing them to foreign intelligence.
Police seized electronic and photographic equipment, mobile phones, laptops, and portable and external high-capacity drives, as well as several different identity documents.
The evidence gathered by investigators gave grounds to ask the court for pretrial detention. The court decided that the man will spend the next three months in custody.
This type of offense carries a penalty of no less than five years in prison. (PAP)
