The amnesty decision made by President Duda based on his authority could not save the former Minister of Internal Affairs and his deputy. The two men were each sentenced to 2 years in prison on charges of “abuse of power” and “inciting corruption”. The court ruled that Duda’s decision was invalid. Thereupon, the police raided the Presidential Palace.
POLITICAL REVENGE IN POLAND? IT’S A BAD MESS
Warsaw police entered the Presidential Palace and detained former Minister of Internal Affairs Mariusz Kaminski and his Deputy Maciej Wasik, who were sentenced to 2 years in prison on charges of “abuse of power” and “inciting corruption”. It was reported that Kaminski and Wasik were detained while President Andrzej Duda was meeting with Belarusian opposition leader Svietlana Tsihanouskaya in the evening.
Polish Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Czeslaw Mroczek confirmed in his statement on his social media account that Kaminski and his Deputy Wasik were detained at the Presidential Palace.
PRESIDENT DUDA USED HIS AMNESTY POWER
A lawsuit was filed in the Warsaw Local Court against Kaminski, who was the Head of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau CBA in Poland between 2007 and 2010, and his Deputy Wasik, on charges of “abusing their power” and “instigating corruption” for political purposes. As a result of the case concluded in 2015, the court found Kaminski and Wasik guilty and sentenced them to 3 years in prison.
At that time, the Law and Justice Party (PiS), of which Kaminski and Wasik were members, came to power. Duda, who was elected to the Presidency as the candidate of PiS in the same year, used his amnesty power and announced that he had pardoned the prison sentences of Kaminski and Wasik in March 2016. Kaminski and Wasik continued their duties as deputies in the Polish parliament, and between 2019 and 2023, Mariusz Kaminski served as Minister of Internal Affairs and Administrative Affairs, and Maciej Wasik served as Deputy Minister.
AMNESTY DECISION WAS CONSIDERED ‘INVALID’
The Warsaw Prosecutor’s Office appealed to the Supreme Court on the grounds that Kaminski and Wasik could not be pardoned by the President before their prison sentences were finalized by the higher court. In June last year, the Polish Supreme Court ruled that the President’s pardon power could not be valid in this case and sent the file to the Warsaw District Court.