Officers of Poland’s Border Guard have directly contravened a European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgment by returning an asylum seeker to Belarus after the court had ordered the government not to do so before June 22.

A train to nowhere

The Chechen national, 34, boarded a train in Belarus in early June that was bound for the Polish crossing point of Terespol, where he planned to apply for asylum. It was a trip he knew well: he had made the same journey 27 times before, and each time he had been refused asylum in Poland.

If his attempts to enter Poland ultimately fail, he fears being returned to Russia, where he says authorities previously detained him unlawfully and tortured him.

Last-minute ruling

Aware of his latest attempt to receive asylum, human rights lawyers in Poland submitted an emergency application to the ECtHR to block any attempt by Polish authorities to return him to Belarus.

The court responded within hours, instructing that he not be summarily returned – a decision the Border Guard had a legal obligation to follow.

The interim injunction was granted on the grounds that the foreigner’s return to Belarus could reasonably lead to his deportation to Russia and subsequent exposure to inhuman and degrading treatment. The ruling blocked any deportation action until at least June 22.

The ECtHR also asked the Polish government to answer several questions regarding the domestic procedure for accepting asylum applications.

Attorney ignored

The Chechen asylum seeker's attorney, Sylwia Gregorczyk-Abram, appeared at the Terespol crossing point in the early hours of the day of his arrival in order to notify the authorities that he would be arriving and request his admission in accordance with the interim judgment of the Strasbourg Court.

The man was searched upon arriving at the border station and asked who had helped him to draw up his asylum documents. He was asked how he had found his lawyer and how much he was paying her.

A copy of the interim ECtHR judgment was found in his possession and taken from him, and he was put on a train and returned to Belarus at 11:25 that morning.

Abuse of power

The actions of the border guards directly contravened the ECtHR’s ruling and constitute a violation of Article 34 of the European Convention on Human Rights (admissibility of individual applications).

Such actions are yet another example of Polish authorities’ practice of refusing to receive foreign nationals’ applications for international protection and returning them to Belarus, which is contrary to international law.

The behavior of the Border Guard officers working at the Terespol station may also be treated as an abuse of a public official’s powers, an offense under Article 231 of the Polish Criminal Code.

The Warsaw Bar Council, the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights and the Association for Legal Intervention have issued a joint statement on the matter.