Mariusz Kaminski and one of his close collaborators were sentenced on appeal to two years in prison in December for having exceeded their duties in a case dating back to 2007.
Published
Reading time: 1 min
:quality(50)/2024/01/09/075-arriens-twooppos240109-npwpj-1-659dc195d1989631049373.jpg)
The Minister of the Interior of the previous Polish populist government and one of his close collaborators were arrested on Tuesday evening, January 9, at the presidential palace by the police, announced a Deputy Minister of the Interior. “Arrested in accordance with the court decision”wrote Czeslaw Mroczek oninformation subsequently confirmed by the police.
They appeared on Tuesday alongside President Andrzej Duda, himself from PiS, during a ceremony at the presidential palace where they then spent the entire day. According to media reports, the president was absent at the time of the arrest. The two men made a statement in the courtyard of the presidential palace. “We are not hiding, we are here with the president, we know that police forces are gathered near the presidency in order to arrest us”Mariusz Kaminski told the press.
“If we end up in prison, we will be political prisoners.”
Mariusz Kaminski, former Minister of the Interiorto journalists
Mariusz Kaminski, former Minister of the Interior, and one of his close collaborators, Maciej Wasik, were sentenced on appeal to two years in prison in December for having exceeded their duties in a case dating back to 2007. At the time head of the central anti-corruption office, Mariusz Kaminski ordered an investigation deemed illegal targeting a member of the ruling coalition, led by PiS.
A court issued an arrest warrant against the two men on Monday evening. They claim their innocence, citing a presidential pardon granted by President Andrzej Duda in 2015 and called into question by the Supreme Court. Elected deputies during the October elections, the two men saw their mandates canceled on Friday, which they refuse to recognize.