Poland convicts former gov’t employee of spying for Russia

WARSAW, Poland – A Polish court has convicted a former government employee on charges of spying for Russia and sentenced him to three years in prison.

The man identified only as Marek W. was arrested in early 2018 on charges of passing classified information on the energy sector to the Russian military intelligence GRU between 2015 and 2016. He was then an employee of the Economy Ministry.

The District Court in Warsaw said Friday it found the man guilty and handed him a prison term. The verdict is subject to appeal.

At time of the arrest Polish media said the man informed Moscow on Poland’s steps at cutting its dependence on Russian gas imports and on countering the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that is to bring Russian gas directly to Western Europe.