Pole wrongly sentenced to life in Congo set free
A Polish traveller who was wrongly sentenced to life in prison in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on espionage charges, has been released, PAP has found out unofficially on Tuesday.
Mariusz Majewski, was detained by Congolese forces in February and, in March, faced a military court, accused of spying, sabotage, and destruction of military installations. On May 23 he was sentenced by the court to life imprisonment.
The allegations against him said that he "approached the front line with Mobondo militiamen, moved along the front line without authorisation from the relevant authorities and without the company of qualified agents, took photos of sensitive and strategic places and secretly observed military activities."
Last Friday, Poland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs' spokesman Pawel Wronski told a press briefing that Majewski was "not a spy but just a traveller pursuing his passions... and his behaviour was the result of a lack of knowledge of local customs."
He said he hoped that "this very harsh, drastic ruling" would be changed in the next instances.
On Monday, Polish President Andrzej Duda spoke over the phone with his Congolese counterpart, Felix Tshisekedi, in an effort to obtain the release of Majewski.
On Tuesday, PAP found out unofficially that Majewski had been released and was staying at the Polish consulate in Brussels.
Later in the day, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Radoslaw Sikorski, confirmed the news on the X platform.
"The Pole detained in the Democratic Republic of Congo and wrongly convicted, Mr. Mariusz Majewski, is now safe in Europe. This morning we were finally able to talk," he wrote.
Sikorski's post included an audio recording of his telephone conversation with the released Pole.
"I want you to know that the entire Polish state worked together to free you, so I'm very happy that the action was a success," Sikorski told Majewski.
A deputy foreign minister Andrzej Szejna told PAP that the action to release the Polish citizen was carried out by Poland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in cooperation with President Andrzej Duda.
Pawel Wronski, the foreign ministry's spokesman, told a later press briefing that "all Polish authorities acted very harmoniously ...and, as it turned out, very effectively to release our citizen."
He said that Majewski "arrived in Brussels early in the morning and is currently at our consulate."
Wronski told reporters that the Polish citizen had been held in a prison in the capital city Kinshasa.
According to the foreign ministry, Majewski had been detained "for photographing prohibited objects."
"Moreover," Wronski said, "the Polish side was identified (by local propaganda - PAP) with certain terrorist organisations."
He added that the process of releasing Majewski was difficult because Poland does not have a diplomatic mission in Kinshasa and DRC "is served by a facility located in the capital of Angola, Luanda." (PAP)
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