Polish political tensions ramp up as PiS politicians arrested at Presidential Palace

Polish police entered the palace of President Andrzej Duda on Tuesday evening and arrested two Law and Justice Party (PiS) politicians convicted of abuse of power.

One-time interior minister Mariusz Kaminski and his erstwhile state secretary Maciej Wasik were convicted in 2007 of using illegal methods including surveillance and forgery to bring down a political opponent.

While hundreds of PiS supporters chanted “Free the political prisoners” and “Shame!” outside the Presidential Palace, Kaminski told reporters “We are not hiding – we are currently with the president of the Republic of Poland until evil loses.” Later the crowd moved to the police station where the politicians were being held. The pair have since been transferred to jail.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk, whose Civic Coalition toppled PiS after an eight-year tenure in October, has accused Duda of obstructing their rightful imprisonment by pardoning them soon after PiS regained power in 2015. Tusk warned that protecting the politicians could “lead us into a very dangerous situation”.

Poland’s Supreme Court overturned the pardons last June and Warsaw District Court sentenced them to two years in prison in December. Incumbent Civic Coalition Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski said “everyone is equal before the law”.

Polish lawyers say presidential pardons are supposed to be used solely in cases that have gone through the entire Polish appeal process.