Polish police detain former Interior Minister and his deputy in the presidential palace
Kyiv • UNN
Polish police detained former Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński and his deputy in the presidential palace in a case of abuse of power in 2007. Their arrest sparked protests and a hunger strike by Kaminski.
In Poland, police detained former Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński and his deputy Maciej Wonsik. This is reported by UNN with reference to RMF24.
Details
The detention took place in the presidential palace, where they were invited to a meeting by Polish President Andrzej Duda.
Kaminski and Vonsik stayed in the palace for several hours, after which the police entered the building and detained them. At that moment, Duda was not in the palace, he was attending a meeting with Belarusian oppositionist Sviatlana Tikhanovskaya in another room. But, according to the President's office, he was scheduled to continue the meeting with the arrested ex-minister and his deputy.
Police officers detained the presidential guests. The dignity of the Polish state and the dignity of those pardoned by the President of the Republic of Poland were violated
After Kaminski and Wonsik were detained, about 300 people went to the presidential palace and the police station to protest. Kaminski and Wonsik's former colleagues in parliament from the Law and Justice party also joined the protest.
After his arrest, Kaminsky went on a hunger strike.
I regard the conviction of me for fighting corruption and the illegal deprivation of my seat in parliament as an act of political revenge
Context
The court ordered the arrest of Kaminsky and Vonsyk the day before in a case of abuse of power in 2007. Duda granted them amnesty in 2015, but last December the court overturned his decision and sentenced the former Interior Ministry officials to two years in prison.
The Associated Press calls what happened an "escalation of the confrontation" between the current government of Tusk, who took office as prime minister in December 2023, and the previous Law and Justice government, which includes President Duda. The latter has warned that he will do everything possible to oppose the new government, the agency notes.
