President Andrzej Duda has repeatedly asserted that he granted clemency to Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik once and that no second pardon will follow. According to Marcin Mastalerek, the head of the president’s office, anyone attempting to imprison them would face accountability, a claim made on TV Trwam.
Important Supreme Court decision regarding Wąsik’s parliamentary mandate
On a recent Wednesday, appeals from Maciej Wąsik and Mariusz Kamiński against the marshal’s decision to terminate their mandates, issued by the Sejm Speaker Szymon Hołownia, were examined by the Chamber of Labor and Social Security of the Supreme Court. The hearings and jury panels for both cases were scheduled for January 10 of this year.
Early Thursday, the Supreme Court’s Labor Chamber, in Wąsik’s appeal, ordered the case to be transferred to the Chamber of Extraordinary Scrutiny. Later that day, reports indicated that the Supreme Court’s Extraordinary Control Chamber had overturned the Sejm Speaker’s decision to end Wąsik’s mandate, with initial confirmation from the wPolityce.pl portal.
The President of the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court, Judge Zbigniew Kapiński, presiding in the absence of the court’s First President, ruled that the Chamber for Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs possessed jurisdiction to hear the case concerning the expiry of Kamiński’s mandate, as reported by the Supreme Court’s press team.
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“There are attempts to undermine the president’s prerogatives.”
Asked about the issue on TV Trwam, Mastalerek stated that a large amount of confusion should never have occurred.
He argued that attempts to undermine the president’s prerogatives are evident, noting that the president granted clemency to Kamiński and Wąsik for their anti-corruption efforts in a straightforward manner.
– said the head of the President’s office.
He underscored that the president possesses the right to pardon in relation to any crime or misdemeanor, even before a final conviction.
When asked whether Hołownia could have acted differently by expiring the parliamentary mandates based on a final verdict, Mastalerek replied that, in the president’s view, the court did not have authority to adjudicate this matter since the president can pardon at any time, including before the final judgment.
And the Constitutional Court has reportedly affirmed this stance on three occasions.
– added the head of the President’s office
Yet Maya Mastalerek expressed concern that the situation sends a troubling signal to those who confront corruption, potentially influencing how officials weigh the political costs of pursuing high-stakes cases.
He contrasted a scenario where Hołownia’s rapid expiry of his office seemed improper with the case of Wąsik, who was facing detention before assuming a European Parliament role, suggesting that Hołownia saw no problem in the latter while acting otherwise in the former.
“He has validly pardoned once and will not pardon again.”
When asked how the president handles developments outside his direct decisions, Mastalerek stated that the president acts alone within constitutional and legal bounds.
There is no alternative mechanism to enforce this principle. The president has legally pardoned them, and any challenge to this acts outside the law, according to the president’s office.
– said the head of the President’s Office.
Asked whether another pardon could occur, Mastalerek reiterated that Duda has consistently stated he pardoned Kamiński and Wąsik once and will not pardon again. If anyone attempts to imprison them, the president’s prerogative would shield them according to the constitution and court rulings.
– noted the Head of the President’s Office.
Trial and pardon
In a statement published by the Supreme Court, the Extraordinary Control Chamber ruled that the effects of a final conviction were nullified by the application of the pardon law. The law’s clemency provisions cannot be assessed by the Supreme Court or the Constitutional Court.
The court stated that confirming the expiry of a deputy’s mandate would not be possible given the 2015 presidential pardon under which forgiveness and withdrawal of proceedings occurred.
– the Supreme Court’s statement emphasized.
The former head of the CBA and former Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński and his former deputy Maciej Wąsik were convicted on December 20 of a two-year prison sentence in connection with a land‑dealing scandal. Hołownia issued expiry notices for their parliamentary mandates.
Previously, President Duda indicated in a letter to the Sejm Speaker that the 2015 pardon extended protection because the individuals were later deemed unlawfully convicted in lower courts, which should have prevented expiry of their mandates.
READ MORE: The President Won’t Sign Another Pardon for Kamiński and Wąsik! We will treat them as political prisoners
olk/PAP
Source: wPolityce