The former Minister of the Interior, Mariusz Kaminski, and his Secretary of State, Maciej Wasik, both legally convicted, had already sought protection in the presidential palace of the Head of State, Andrzej Duda.
Police in Poland arrested two legally convicted deputies from the replaced national-conservative ruling party, PiS, who had previously sought protection in the presidential palace. The Warsaw police announced this on Tuesday on the X platform (formerly Twitter). According to Polish media reports, the two were caught at the presidential palace.
President Andrzej Duda, who comes from PiS ranks, received former Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski and his Secretary of State Maciej Wasik at the presidential palace in the morning, while police were supposed to take them to prison. Both politicians were sentenced to two years in prison for abuse of power by a Warsaw district court in December following an appeal and were due to begin their sentences.
Prime Minister Tusk accuses Duda of obstructing the arrest
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused President Andrzej Duda of preventing the arrest of the two legally convicted deputies from the replaced national-conservative ruling party, PiS. “Mr President, my fervent appeal for the good of the Polish State: this spectacle must stop. This will lead us to a very dangerous situation,” Tusk said in Warsaw on Tuesday.
Tusk warned that Duda and PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski would be held accountable for sabotaging the constitution and breaking the law. The president, who comes from the ranks of PiS, received the former Minister of the Interior, Mariusz Kaminski, and his Secretary of State, Maciej Wasik, at the presidential palace in the morning, while the police were supposed to take them to prison. The two posed side by side with the head of state at a reception at the presidential palace this Tuesday, according to images published by Duda's law firm on platform X (formerly Twitter).
Police searched homes in vain
Warsaw police had already confirmed that a court order had been received to transfer both politicians to prison. Footage from TVN24 showed police apparently searching in vain for the men in front of their homes.
In the afternoon, Kaminski and Wasik appeared before the press in the courtyard of the presidential palace. Police searched the homes in the morning but found neither him nor Wasik, Kaminski said. “We are not hiding. Right now we are with the president of Poland until evil loses.” (APA)