Warsaw, 23 January 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Polish President Andrzej Duda has pardoned for a second time two imprisoned former members of the ousted nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party government convicted of abuse of office.

Former interior minister Mariusz Kamiński and his former state secretary Maciej Wąsik are to be released from prison with immediate effect, Duda said in Warsaw on Tuesday.

Duda had already announced almost a fortnight ago that he had applied to Justice Minister Adam Bodnar to initiate a pardon procedure. Bodnar responded to this request on Tuesday with a negative statement, which was however not binding for the president.

In recent weeks, the dispute over the fate of Kamiński and Wąsik has become a central point of contention between the centre-left government of Donald Tusk and the PiS with its ally Duda.

The two politicians were arrested on January 9 and taken to prison after initially seeking protection in the presidential palace. The PiS describes the two as "political prisoners."

Kamiński and Wąsik were sentenced to two years in prison for abuse of office by a Warsaw district court in December.

Duda had pardoned the two after an initial trial in 2015. However, the Supreme Court had declared this pardon to be unlawful, as the appeal proceedings were still ongoing at the time.

On Tuesday, Duda stressed once again that he believes the pardon from 2015 is still valid.

Kamiński has been on hunger strike since the beginning of his detention. According to Duda, the state of health is poor.

Photo: MIA Archive