Warsaw on Friday rejected espionage accusations against a Polish citizen it said had been sentenced to life in prison in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The foreign ministry said Poland’s president would intervene in the case of the man held in the central African nation long rocked by insecurity.
“A life sentence was handed down in the Democratic Republic of Congo against a Polish citizen, Mariusz Majewski, accused of espionage,” ministry spokesman Pawel Wronski told reporters.
“Majewski is not a spy, he’s a person who belongs to a traveller’s club. That is how he pursues his passions,” he added.
Local media reported that the 52-year-old was an avid traveller who had visited all 193 member states of the United Nations, including North Korea.
“We hope that… this very harsh, drastic sentence will be revised. (Polish) President Andrzej Duda will intervene in the matter soon,” Wronski said.
He added that Poland was aware of the difficult political situation in the DR Congo, whose military on Sunday thwarted an attempted coup.
“We hope however that justice will prevail in this case and Mariusz Majewski will not get caught up in a situation that is unrelated to him,” Wronski said.