A district court in the northeastern Polish city of Olsztyn on Wednesday upheld an earlier ruling by a regional court against the defendant, identified as Emil Cz., following an appeal.
In addition to the six-month community sentence, the Olsztyn court ordered Emil Cz. to refrain from using alcohol, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The court also issued a one-year restraining order, instructing the convicted to stay at least 50 metres away from his mother and refrain from contacting her directly during this period, the PAP news agency reported.
Moreover, Emil Cz. was ordered to pay the court costs, according to the report.
Judge Dorota Lutostańska presides over the hearing at the District Court in Olsztyn, northeastern Poland, on Wednesday. Photo: PAP/Tomasz Waszczuk
The court found the man guilty of physical and mental abuse of his mother, which happened after he moved into the woman’s one-room flat in the northern town of Bartoszyce in August last year, a spokesman for the Olsztyn court, Olgierd Dąbrowski-Żegalski, told reporters.
The "alcohol-fuelled maltreatment" continued until May this year when Emil Cz. was detained by police after a particularly violent attack on his mother, during which he also threatened to kill her, the spokesman told the media.
Wanted for defection
Earlier this week, Polish prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Emil Cz. in connection with his defection to Belarus, according to a spokeswoman for the Warsaw Prosecutor's Office.
“The warrant was given out on Monday,” Agnieszka Skrzyniarz told the media.
If convicted of defection, the man faces up to 10 years in prison, the PAP news agency reported.
Investigators have established that "Private First-Class Emil Cz." was on duty near the border crossing in the village of Narewka on December 16 when he “left his post” and “fled from Poland to Belarus,” PAP reported.
Poland’s Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak dismissed the soldier’s commanding officers in the wake of the defection.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP