Everything indicates that I will be forced to take a decision to terminate the mandates of MPs Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik; If they decide to continue the appeal process, I will ask them not to carry out their mandate until it is completed, said the Marshal of the Sejm, Szymon Hołownia.
Will Hołownia’s mandates of Wąsik and Kamiński expire?
The Warsaw court in second instance imposed two years in prison on Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik, and one year in prison on the other two former heads of the CBA for operational activities during the “land scandal”.
At a later press conference, the Marshal of the Sejm announced that he had received from the head of the Ministry of Justice, Adam Bodnar, a document containing information about the court’s verdict, and that this document was being analyzed by the legal services of the Sejm.
When this analysis is completed, as everything indicates, I will be forced to take a decision to terminate the mandates of both Members of Parliament
– said Hołownia.
He added that such a decision of the Chairman of the Sejm, once issued, can be appealed by interested parties to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has seven days to consider this objection.
He pointed out that this is once again a precedent in the current term of the Sejm, and therefore, as he said, “we must be sure that we are on a solid legal basis and that no one has any doubts.”
I will also make a request to both parliamentarians not to carry out their mandate until the end of the appeal procedure, because such a fact arises, and I will wait for the decision of the Supreme Court if such an appeal procedure is initiated by the interested parties yourself.
– said the marshal.
Hołownia gives the president a lecture on pardons
According to Hołownia, if the president wants to maintain his previous opinion on the pardon of the then illegally convicted former heads of the CBA, Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik, he cannot pardon them again. According to Hołownia, this would mean that the president “did not do what he previously said he did”. The marshal added that he did not think “the president would be ready for such acrobatics with himself,” but “I am not in a position to predict what the president will do.”
Hołownia also answered the question about his further actions regarding the expiry of the parliamentary mandates of Kamiński and Wąsik and the situation in which the parliamentarians do not recognize this decision and appear in the meeting room.
I would like there to be no doubt about this matter. We do not need further escalations and further outbreaks of war in the country today. We need a cold and effective application of the law, knowing that we cannot set the country on fire. Until the appeal process is completed, I will not use any means other than persuasion
– he emphasized.
The Marshal recalled that parliamentarians have the right to file a cassation appeal with the Supreme Court.
However, I think the matter is obvious. The gentlemen have been convicted and it is my duty, as chairman of the Sejm and as a state official, to draw attention to this fact.
– said Hołownia. He also described the situation as unprecedented in the history of the Sejm after 1989.
When asked about the date on which the parliamentary mandates of Kamiński and Wąsik expired, Hołownia stated that “from a material point of view, the expiry of the mandates has already taken place.”
I say this as Marshal of the Sejm, but at the moment my services are analyzing the documents on the basis of which I am issuing such a decision, because all this must be in accordance with the law.
– he pointed out.
According to him, after issuing the decision and delivering it to the interested parties, they have three days to file a complaint with the Supreme Court, which has another seven days to review the case.
Until this procedure is completed, I will not decide to replace these two members with someone else, as I believe that the appeals procedure must be respected – as should the decisions I make
– emphasized the Marshal of the Sejm.
I will follow it one hundred percent. accordance with the law. Immediately, decisively, but without too much haste or an escalation of the situation, because I believe that no one needs it
– Hołownia summarized.
The case law of the Constitutional Court confirms the president’s right to a pardon
Presidential Minister Małgorzata Paprocka – asked about Wednesday’s court ruling – told PAP that the case law of the Constitutional Court confirms the right of the president to apply the law of pardon at the stage at which it was adopted in the Kamiński and Wąsik, that is, after the judgment of the judge of first instance.
The Supreme Court has no legal basis to review the exercise of the prerogative by the President of the Republic of Poland
– she assessed.
The case of the former heads of the CBA has a history of almost ten years. In March 2015, the Warsaw-Śródmieście District Court sentenced the former heads of the CBA, Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik, at first instance to 3 years in prison, among other things. for exceeding the powers and illegal operational activities of the CBA during the “land scandal” in 2007. Two other former members of the CBA board were sentenced to 2.5 years in prison. Kamiński then said that the verdict “violates the fundamental sense of justice, is bizarre, extremely unjust and incomprehensible.”
The case was brought up again after more than eight years in connection with the Supreme Court’s ruling in June. Early June this year. The Supreme Court of the Criminal Chamber overturned the termination of the case of the former heads of the CBA, which was filed by the Warsaw District Court in March 2016 in connection with the pardon law used by President Andrzej Duda against the former heads of the CBA, who were not legally convicted and referred the case to the Supreme Court for reconsideration.
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WKT/PAP
Source: wPolityce