Two Polish lawmakers ordered by a court to go to prison - Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik - have been arrested at the Presidential Palace. "Everyone is equal before the law," Minister of the Interior and Administration Marcin Kierwiński said on the X social media platform on Tuesday (Jan. 9) evening.
The accusations over the two lawmakers were the latest salvo in a row that is likely to be one of many during a period of cohabitation in which the government and president are from different political camps.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk had earlier accused President Andrzej Duda of obstructing justice after the two lawmakers appeared at the palace, prompting police to search for them in cars leaving the building.
Both Kamiński and Wąsik are from the PiS party.
Information regarding the two wanted PiS lawmakers' arrest came in after 7 p.m. local time. Shortly after it was confirmed by the interior minister and his deputy.
Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński briefly noted on X: "Everyone is equal before the law."
"Detained following a court order," Deputy Interior Minister Czesław Mroczek said on X.
Warsaw Police also informed about the arrest on X: "With regards to the previous message, we inform that following a court order the persons it pertained to have been detained," we read.
In 2015, weeks after the nationalist PiS took power, Duda issued a pardon to Kamiński after he was convicted of abuse of power in a previous role as head of Poland's Central Anti-Corruption Bureau. The pardon allowed him to become interior minister. Kamiński had been accused of allowing agents under his command to use entrapment in an investigation.
Lawyers questioned whether Duda could pardon Kamiński before an appeals court had issued a final ruling. The Supreme Court said last year the case should be reopened and Kamiński and Wąsik, his deputy in the interior ministry, were sentenced last month to two years in prison for abuse of power.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, TVN24, Reuters