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Mariusz Kaminski and one of his close associates were sentenced on appeal in December to two years in prison for exceeding their duties in a 2007 case.
Published on September 1, 2024 11:15 p.m
Reading time: 1 min
The Presidential Palace is seen in Warsaw, Poland, on January 9, 2024. (JAAP ARRIENS / NURPHOTO / AFP)
The interior minister of Poland's previous populist government and one of his close aides were arrested by police at the presidential palace on Tuesday evening, January 9, a deputy interior minister announced. “Arrested in accordance with the court decision,” Czeslaw Mroczek wrote AtInformation later confirmed by police.
They appeared on Tuesday together with President Andrzej Duda, himself from the PiS, at a ceremony in the presidential palace, where they then spent the whole 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 presidential office to arrest us,” Mariusz Kaminski told the press.
“If we end up in prison, we will be political prisoners.”
Mariusz Kaminski, former Interior Minister
to journalists
Mariusz Kaminski, a former interior minister, and one of his close aides, Maciej Wasik, were sentenced on appeal in December to two years in prison for exceeding their duties in a 2007 case. Then-head of the Central Anti-Corruption Office Mariusz Kaminski ordered an investigation that was considered unlawful and was directed against a member of the PiS-led government coalition.
A court issued an arrest warrant for the two men on Monday evening. They maintain their innocence, citing a presidential pardon granted by President Andrzej Duda in 2015 and questioned by the Supreme Court. The two men who were elected MPs in October's elections had their mandates withdrawn on Friday, which they refuse to acknowledge.