A Belarusian sex worker in Poland has been found guilty of spying for her home country.
During her trial, it was revealed that she made a point of approaching Belarusian dissidents living in Poland to offer her services. She was apprehended by Polish authorities following a drinks party she had attended.
A Warsaw district court on September 10 sentenced Belarusian citizen Daria O to 20 months in prison for collusion with the Belarusian intelligence services. Polish law forbids the surnames of convicts to be publicly revealed without their consent.
The woman was engaged in sex work and developed “close relations” with Belarusian opposition activists living in Poland.
Belarusian independent portal Zerkalo claimed that the convicted 37-year-old had been working with the Belarusian KGB since 2017. In her home country, she had worked as a model and prostitute. After arriving in Poland, she engaged actively in placing naked photographs of herself on platform OnlyFans.
According to news portal Onet.pl, the Belarusian woman was “uncovered” by Polish counter-intelligence services following an “indiscretion” during a drinks party with friends at which she revealed she was working for the Belarusian authorities.
Some of those present at the party later informed the Polish authorities. Polish internal security agency ABW found evidence of her collusion with Belarusian secret services on her mobile phone. She was charged with espionage for a foreign power against Poland.
Poland’s public prosecutors established that she had been gathering information about the activities of the Belarusian diaspora in Poland, including Belarusian opposition activists.
Several Belarusian opposition leaders had fled to Poland from their home country in the wake of a crackdown on protests against President Alexander Lukaschenko over what they regarded as his fraudulent re-election as President in 2020.
Relations between Poland and Belarus deteriorated when Belarus in 2021 decided it would no longer re-admit any illegal migrants who had crossed its borders and, according to Poland, the country actively facilitated illegal crossings across Polish borders.
Belarus and Poland have also been at loggerheads over the plight of the Polish minority in Belarus after the country banned the independent Association of Poles. It has since jailed one of the group’s leaders, journalist Andrzej Poczobut.
