Tomasz Szmydt fled Poland in early May after resigning from his position as judge at the Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw.

He appeared at a propaganda press conference in the Belarus capital, Minsk, on May 6, asking for “protection” from the Polish state. He has presented himself as a victim of repression for his views.

The Polish National Prosecutor's Office charged the former judge in absentia with espionage and issued an arrest warrant for him, while the District Court in Warsaw issued a European Arrest Warrant.

Belarusian media later reported that Szmydt had started working at the BelTA agency, and that he had founded the Polska Prawda foundation, which aims to "provide information about European and American politicians, their connections with the services and corruption."

Lukashenko's re-election to a sixth term in 2020 sparked unprecedented protests after the opposition and the West accused him of rigging the vote to cheat his opponent of victory.

A campaign to suppress protesters and opponents led to the imprisonment of several thousand people, some of whom have since been pardoned.

Human rights groups say some 1,400 political prisoners are still being held in Belarus, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski.

Szmydt, however, said he considered Belarus a "truly free and safe" country.