This Tuesday, President Andrzej Duda pardoned Mariusz Kaminski and Maciej Wąsik, two former ministers of his nationalist Law and Justice Party (PiS).
The two populist politicians had been in prison for two weeks for abuse of power dating back to 2007, when they headed the anti-corruption office.
However, some experts believe that presidential pardons are in principle reserved for cases having exhausted all existing legal remedies, which is not the case for the two politicians.
Mariusz Kaminski and Maciej Wąsik were arrested by police at the beginning of Januarywhile they had found refuge within the presidential palace.
This is the second time that Andrzej Duda has granted presidential pardons to the two men, a fact illustrating the tensions with the new pro-European government in power.
The Polish president must live together with the Prime Minister Donald Tusk, politician from a centrist party elected in October 2023.
