Polish opposition politicians charged for defying ban on holding public office
Mariusz Kamiński, a deputy leader of Poland’s main opposition party, Law and Justice (PiS), was today charged by prosecutors for participating in parliamentary activities despite being banned from holding public office. His PiS colleague Maciej Wąsik also heard the same charges.
The pair – who were barred from holding office after being convicted of abusing their powers – insist the ban is not valid because they received presidential pardons. Kamiński today declared himself a victim of “political repression” by the government that took power from PiS in December.
However, the speaker of parliament, Szymon Hołownia, who is part of the current ruling coalition, expressed support for prosecutors and said he “hopes these gentlemen will be held accountable for all the bad things they have done in their public activities”.
Marszałek Sejmu o Wąsiku i Kamińskim: mam nadzieję, że odpowiedzą za wszystkie złe rzeczy, które zrobili w działalności publicznej#PAPinformacje https://t.co/0G0iVV5yaO
— PAP (@PAPinformacje) April 17, 2024
Earlier this week, Kamiński and Wąsik – who served as minister and deputy minister of internal affairs until autumn last year – announced that they had been summoned to appear before prosecutors on Thursday to hear the charges against them. Today, the pair visited the district prosecutor’s office in Warsaw.
“The prosecutor read the charges, but I refused to participate in any activities,” Kamiński told the media afterwards. “I told the prosecutor that calling me here as a suspect was political repression…undertaken at the request of Civic Platform [PO, the main ruling party] politicians.”
Wąsik delivered a similar message to the press. He also claimed that he and his colleague cannot even be legally charged because as MPs they have parliamentary immunity.
Bezprawne działania neoprokuratury ws. posła Kamińskiego#WłączPrawdę #TVRepublika @Kaminski_M_ pic.twitter.com/Os0Js8Nqoq
— Telewizja Republika 🇵🇱 #włączprawdę (@RepublikaTV) April 18, 2024
Prosecutors are charging the pair over their participation in parliamentary votes on 21 December and in a parliamentary committee meeting on 28 December. They say this was illegal because the politicians had a court-ordered ban from holding public office, meaning they cannot serve as MPs.
Failure to comply with a prohibition imposed by a court is a crime punishable by imprisonment of between three months and five years, reports the Gazeta Wyborcza daily.
Kamiński said today that he had “informed the prosecutors about the decision of the Supreme Court” that he and Wąsik argue means they are still MPs.
On 4 January, one chamber of the Supreme Court ruled that the parliamentary speaker Szymon Hołownia’s decision to end Wąsik’s parliamentary mandate was invalid. However, a week later another chamber of the same court upheld the decision to end Kamiński’s mandate.
A chamber of the Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by a convicted MP against the loss of his parliamentary mandate.
Another chamber of the same court last week made the opposite ruling on the same case, but today’s ruling declared that chamber unlawful https://t.co/EXxiQTRlcq
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) January 10, 2024
Kamiński and PiS have argued that the latter decision was made by a chamber not authorised to rule on the issue, whereas the ruling relating to Wąsik is valid.
“On 5 January, and now also on 12 April, I received information from the Supreme Court that the decisions of Hołownia [to end our mandates] were cancelled,” said Kamiński today. “I am still an MP.”
But other legal authorities – including the chamber that issued the decision on Kamiński – say that the chamber which issued the decision on Wąsik is itself not a legitimate body due to the manner in which it was created and staffed during the contested overhaul of the judiciary led by the PiS government.
Parliament has approved a bill aimed at restoring the independence of the body responsible for nominating judges.
The former PiS government’s move to bring it under political control was at the heart of the rule-of-law crisis that emerged during its rule https://t.co/OnAUV5RDQS
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) April 13, 2024
The legal dispute over Kamiński and Wąsik goes even deeper. Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that the pardons they received in 2015 from President Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally, for their abuse of power convictions were invalid.
However, another top court, the Constitutional Tribunal (TK), found that the Supreme Court did not have the right to rule on the president’s constitutional prerogatives. The TK is widely seen as being under the influence of PiS.
The Supreme Court ruling, however, opened the way for Kamiński and Wąsik to receive final, binding convictions for abuse of power in December last year, as a result of which they were jailed in January. Later that month, Duda issued another pardon to the pair, resulting in their release from custody.
Along with their jail sentences, in December Wąsik and Kamiński received five-year bans on holding public office. They were also removed as MPs as a result of their criminal convictions. However, they insist that none of their punishments are valid due to the 2015 pardon.
President Andrzej Duda has announced a pardon for two former government ministers who were jailed for abuse of power.
However, he continues to insist his previous attempt to pardon the pair in 2015 was valid should have been respected https://t.co/iPguek5cjs
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) January 23, 2024
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Main image credit: Slawomir Kaminski / Agencja Wyborcza.pl
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
