Ukrainian charged with murder over Polish abbey stabbing

Three clergy members and two laypersons were attacked on the grounds of a Benedictine Sisters monastery in Jaroslaw, Poland, on Sept 24.

WARSAW - A 31-year-old Ukrainian citizen who attacked five people with a knife in eastern Poland was charged with murder and attempted murder, prosecutors said on Sept 25.

On the morning of Sept 24, Ihor M. – whose last name has been withheld under Polish privacy law – entered the Benedictine abbey in Jaroslaw, a town in south-eastern Poland about 30km from the Ukrainian border.

He stabbed five people – three members of the clergy and two laypersons.

One of the priests later died from his injuries in hospital.

The other four victims, also initially admitted to hospital, are now in a stable condition.

“We have brought charges against the alleged perpetrator, Mr. Ihor M., for murder, attempted murder and intentional bodily harm resulting in a total incapacity for work of more than eight days,” said the spokeswoman for the district prosecutor’s office in Przemysl, Malgorzata Taciuch-Kurasiewicz.

The accused, who faces life imprisonment if convicted, was also wounded in the attack and remains in hospital.

His mental condition has not allowed investigators to question him about the events and his motives remain unknown.

According to initial findings, the assailant entered Poland from Germany overnight from Sept 23 to Sept 24 and intended to travel on to Ukraine.

Polish law enforcement officers work at the site of a knife attack in Jaroslaw. The accused faces life imprisonment if convicted.

But he was turned back at the Korczowa border crossing because his car did not have the required insurance.

Prosecutors say the man then turned around and went to Jaroslaw, where he allegedly entered the abbey, took a knife from the kitchen and began his stabbing attack.

Police arrested him at the scene. He did not resist. AFP