Polish president pardons jailed former politicians

Polish president Andrzej Duda yesterday evening pardoned two members of the former Law and Justice government who had started two-year prison sentences earlier this month for abuse of power.

Former interior minister Mariusz Kamiński and his deputy, Maciej Wąsik, were originally convicted in 2015 for actions dating from 2006 to 2007 when they held top roles at Poland’s anti-corruption bureau.

Both men had started prison sentences following their arrest at Warsaw’s presidential palace on January 9.

Mr Kamiński went on hunger strike upon starting his prison sentence and had called his jail sentence an act of “political revenge”.

Both Mr Kamiński and Mr Wąsik were released from jail last night and greeted by supporters of the nationalist-populist Law and Justice party.

Marcin Zaborowski, a political analyst, told RTÉ News that Mr Duda was “clearly aligning himself with everything that Law and Justice stands for”.

Mr Duda, he said, had delayed the appointment of the new government “as much as possible” following October’s general election.

The president has also criticised the new government’s reforms of public media, which had been heavily controlled by the previous administration, as well as the dismissal of the former national prosecutor, also appointed by Law and Justice.

Mr Duda had originally pardoned Mr Kamiński and Mr Wąsik in 2015 after he was elected president.

The two men then went on to serve in the Law and Justice government but Poland’s Supreme Court decided last year that the case should be reopened.

They were sentenced to two years in prison last December shortly after the country’s new centrist coalition, came to power.

Mr Duda had criticised the sentencing of the former politicians and called on the justice minister, Adam Bodnar, to release the two men.

In 2016, Poland’s Supreme Court found Mr Duda’s first pardon to be incorrect because it was issued before a final verdict was declared in the case.

However, Poland’s highest court, the Constitutional Tribunal intervened, and the case remained dormant for the duration of the two administrations led by the Law and Justice party.

In June last year, the Supreme Court again ruled against Mr Duda’s original pardon from 2015.

Leaders of Law and Justice and more than 50,000 of their supporters had marched in Warsaw on January 10 to demand their release, calling the two men “political prisoners”.

Yesterday, Mr Bodnar said the two men should not be pardoned but that his opinion does not bind the president.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk posted on X, formerly Twitter: “The president – this time correctly – exercised his right to pardon criminals. That’s all”.

The Speaker of the Polish parliament, Szymon Hołownia, has said that Mr Kamiński and Mr Wąsik will not be able to take up their seats in parliament due to their conviction.

However, Mr Duda supports the view of Law and Justice that the two men are still members of parliament.

Marcin Mastalerek, the head of the Cabinet of the President, said on Polish radio station RMF FM, that Mr Duda is expected to meet the two released men this afternoon.

Additional reporting by Reuters