The trial of members of a people smuggling gang has begun before the District Court in Łódź. The prosecutor's office accused 98 citizens of Poland, Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan of organizing the entry to Poland of over 3,000 people. people. Most of them voluntarily submitted to punishment before the trial began.
On Wednesday, 11 of 98 accused members of an international organized criminal group involved in organizing illegal crossing of the Polish border appeared before the District Court in Łódź. Six of them pleaded guilty in the courtroom and expressed their willingness to voluntarily submit to punishment. The remaining members of the criminal group did so already in the preliminary part of the trial.
According to the prosecutor's office, an organized criminal group enabled over three thousand foreigners to enter Poland.
– This is one of the largest and first cases of its kind. The preparatory proceedings lasted a year and a half, and the indictment covered 98 people. Separate proceedings are underway against other people with whom the activities could not be completed, mainly because they left Poland, said prosecutor Paweł Jasiak from the District Prosecutor's Office in Łódź, the author of the indictment, before the trial began.
Prosecutor accused the defendants of participating in an organized criminal group, organizing illegal border crossing by foreigners, obtaining untruthful certificates from public officials and using false documents. The charges also include forging documents and using them. The defendants face up to 8 years in prison, but those who want to be punished can count on suspended sentences combined with community service, high fines and exemplary damages.
According to the indictment The people smuggling gang, led by a Belarusian citizen, was composed of Belarusians, Ukrainians, Poles and Kazakhs. The accused include: advocatewho cooperated with the group by preparing witnesses to give false testimony. Their clients are mainly Belarusians and Ukrainians, but also, among others, citizens of Moldova.
– The prosecutor's office initiated an investigation after a notification submitted by the Polish consul in Grodno, who discovered that people of Belarusian and Ukrainian nationality were crossing the Polish border using declarations of entrusting work to companies that do not exist, said prosecutor Paweł Jasiak, the author of the indictment, before the start of the trial.
The prosecutor explained that during the investigation he examined four types of visas obtained by people who were interested in getting to Poland. These included: declarations of entrusting work and related work visas issued by defunct companies.
The second type of visas examined by the prosecutor's office are invitational visas for guests and friends. Prosecutor Jasiak explained that, according to the rules, the inviting person should know the invited foreigner, must provide him with accommodation and have funds to guarantee decent living conditions for this person.
– The accused persons who invited foreigners in this case did not know them, had no idea about their whereabouts, and did not have money to support the guest, said the prosecutor.
A separate form of legalizing the entry of foreigners to Poland was the so-called cultural or educational visas. According to the prosecutor, fictitious schools and museums were established in Poland. He gave the example of the Polish-Belarusian Friendship Museum, which had only one exhibit and foreigners obtained visas and crossed the Polish border under the guise of visiting this facility.
– We also discovered fictitious schools offering majors, including: the history of Japanese cuisine with a curriculum including 200 hours of sushi-making techniques online, the prosecutor said.
He added that the schools created for the needs of the criminal group only had a website and a fictitious education program. Other than that, they didn't offer any services.
The Polish visa organized by this criminal group cost approximately PLN 1,000, paid in dollars, and the organizers of the operation made approximately PLN 700 in profit from one visa.
For the purposes of criminal activity, the defendants created a profile in a popular application and website, where they posted the scope of the group's services and a price list. Those interested in entering Poland could even freely choose the basis on which they wanted to cross the border of the Republic of Poland and legalize their stay.
– We take into account that there are some threads in this case that we have not been able to find. Such activity continues all the time. On the Internet, on various forums and in online applications, you can find advertisements about purchasing a Polish visa. One trial will not eliminate the entire practice, but we must make every effort to curb it as much as possible, said the prosecutor.
On the first day of the trial, judge Karolina Paszkowska-Masłowska accepted the defendants' applications for voluntary submission to punishment and began reading their testimony given in the investigation. Most of the defendants pleaded guilty but refused to give explanations. (PAP)
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