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Polish man sentenced to death in Syria has been released

PR dla Zagranicy
Roberto Galea 24.01.2017 11:42
A Polish man who was sentenced to death in Syria for alleged terrorist activities has been released and will soon return to his home country.
Photo: Twitter/@Inside_SyriaPhoto: Twitter/@Inside_Syria

The 54-year-old Pole, Leszek Panek, went missing in Syria in December 2015.

According to media reports, he was arrested by the army in the region of Homs in Syria. He was charged with terrorist activities and was later sentenced to death.

The Czech Republic helped in his release because of the “close relationship between the Czech Republic and Poland”, and the fact that the country is “the sole representative of the EU and NATO in Damascus”, the Czech government wrote in a statement.

The release was confirmed on Tuesday by the Polish foreign ministry.

“He is currently with the Polish diplomatic corps [in the region], and will return to Poland in the coming days,” a spokeswoman for the Polish foreign ministry told the IAR news agency. She declined to disclose the details of the release.

The agency added that Panek, a resident of Wrocław, south-eastern Poland, had gone to Syria in an attempt to convert Muslims to Christianity. (rg/pk)

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