Mariusz Kamiński, a former interior minister and Law and Justice (PiS) MP, and his former deputy at the ministry, Maciej Wąsik, heard criminal charges for participating in parliamentary work despite having been issued a court ban on holding public office. Both politicians refused to acknowledge the charges and dismissed them as "political repression" carried out by the current government.
Upon leaving the prosecutor's office building on Thursday (April 18) morning, Kamiński told reporters: "I consider having been summoned here as a suspect a political repression."
"The prosecutor read out the charges, but I refused to take part in any proceedings," he added. "I've lectured the prosecutor about Supreme Court's decisions. I hope she draws conclusions from it."
He pointed out that his vote in the Sejm on Dec. 21 happened before his mandate was effectively nullified, as he still had the right at the time to appeal against it to the Supreme Court.
"On Jan. 5, and now also on April 12, I received information from the Supreme Court that the decisions (to nullify their parliamentary mandates - edit.) of Hołownia (Speaker of the Sejm Szymon Hołownia - edit.) were cancelled," Kamiński said. "I am still an MP."
Kamiński explained that the charges pertained to his participation in voting in the Sejm on Dec. 21 as well as in a parliamentary committee session on Dec. 28.
A few hours later, after having been charged, Maciej Wąsik repeated Kamiński's comment about "political repression" by the current administration aimed to target them both. He also refused to take part in any proceedings and said their ordeal was due to "Donald Tusk's personal revenge".
Wąsik also took part in the voting session on Dec. 21, 2023.
On Dec. 20, 2023, the Regional Court in Warsaw sentenced Kamiński and Wąsik to two years in prison for abuse of power years back in the so-called "land scandal". Shortly after, the two politicians were detained and placed in separate prisons.
President Andrzej Duda pardoned the jailed politicians on Jan. 23 and they were released.
The president had already pardoned the two politicians back in 2015, allowing them to become ministers in the PiS government. He had done so, however, before the final court sentence was passed.
"For me, they have always been pardoned, but taking into account the social unrest, I decided to initiate the (new) pardon proceedings," Duda said in January.
Justice Minister and Prosecutor General Adam Bodnar had issued a negative opinion regarding the pardon procedure launched by the president. The minister's opinion, however, is not binding for the head of state.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP