Polish police raid presidential palace, arrest former chief and his deputy

(Patria) - Polish police yesterday arrested two of their former leaders - the former interior minister and his deputy - at the presidential palace in Warsaw, in an escalating conflict between the head of state and the new Polish government.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk had earlier accused President Andrzej Duda of obstructing justice after two lawmakers who were supposed to be in prison were seen at the palace.

The charges against Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik are new elements in a dispute that is likely to be one of many during the cohabitation of a government and a president from different political camps.

"We would like to inform you that in accordance with the court order, the persons to whom it applies have been detained," the Polish police announced on social network X.

New Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said that everyone is equal before the law.

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in front of the presidential palace at the call of the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, of which Kamiński and Wąsik are members. The crowd chanted "Free political prisoners" and "Shame!".

Protest przed Pałacem Prezydenta @AndrzejDuda @RMF24pl pic.twitter.com/BsmsOc9agT

— Magda Grajnert (@MagdaGrajnert) January 9, 2024

PiS spokesperson Rafał Bochenek assessed in a post on X that the police move was an illegal abduction and a violation of all democratic rules.

Duda pardoned Mariusz Kamiński in 2015, a few weeks after PiS came to power, after Kamiński was convicted of abuse of power in a previous role, which allowed him to become interior minister.

Lawyers questioned whether Duda could pardon him before an appeals court made a final ruling.

The Supreme Court ruled last year that the case should be reopened, and in December, Kamiński and his deputy Maciej Wąsik were sentenced to two years in prison for abuse of power.

The president's office yesterday published a photo of Kamiński and Wąsik with Duda at an official event at the palace.

According to Szymon Hołownia, the speaker of the lower house of parliament, or Sejm, the December verdict means that Kamiński and Wąsik have lost their parliamentary mandates. However, both denied this and planned to attend the next session.

Tusk, a former president of the European Council, became prime minister after the October elections last year, in which PiS lost power after eight years.

The party's rule was marked by clashes with Brussels and accusations of undermining democratic standards.