Andrzej Duda, the Polish President, has granted pardons to two former government officials and has called for their immediate release from prison. This action is in response to demands from the main opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, which recently lost power.
The two individuals, former interior minister Mariusz Kaminski and his deputy Maciej Wasik, were jailed this month after being sentenced for abuse of power in their previous roles. Both men claimed to be “political prisoners” and went on a hunger strike. Their imprisonment led to large protests by tens of thousands of PiS supporters.
Duda, who is an ally of the PiS, had previously pardoned both politicians after they were initially sentenced in 2015. However, Poland’s Supreme Court ruled that this move was invalid, stating that a presidential pardon could not be granted before a final ruling in the case was issued.
The two men served in the nationalist PiS government, but the Supreme Court ordered a reopening of the case last year. They were ultimately sentenced to two years in prison in December, following a change in power to a new centrist coalition in Poland.
Shortly after their imprisonment, Duda initiated the process of pardoning them for a second time. “For me, they have always been pardoned, but taking into account the social unrest, I decided to initiate the (new) pardon proceedings,” Duda stated.
Despite this, Justice Minister Adam Bodnar, who also serves as the prosecutor general, stated earlier on Tuesday that the two men should not be pardoned. However, his opinion is not binding on the president.
The new Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, has promised to reverse certain PiS policies and to hold officials accountable for any wrongdoing during their time in office. Tusk aims to bring Poland back in line with European Union democratic standards after eight years of PiS rule that frequently led to clashes with Brussels over judicial, media, and other reforms.
(Reporting by Marek Strzelecki, Pawel Florkiewicz and Anna Koper; Editing by Gareth Jones)
