The documents have been delivered; at this moment, the decision on whether Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik will serve sentences rests with the Attorney General. An urgent determination is urged by Małgorzata Paprocka, a minister in the President’s Chancellery.
Paprocka was asked on Republika TV whether the pardoning procedure for convicted PiS politicians Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik, initiated by President Andrzej Duda on Thursday, represents a new process compared with the 2015 approach.
She stressed that President Duda still believes the 2015 pardon path for both politicians was correct.
Yet the actual situation cannot be ignored, she added, noting the arrest and extradition of the convicted figures to prison as context for the case.
Today the president decided to begin a pardon procedure; the files were sent to the appropriate authority, the Attorney General. This follows Article 139 of the Constitution, which covers the right to pardon, together with the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure; this is the traditional exercise of clemency.
As she explained, the President also sent an official letter to the Attorney General and to the head of the Ministry of Justice, Adam Bodnar, about starting the pardon proceedings. He also indicated that the Attorney General should immediately invoke Article 568 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which allows suspending a sentence, and noted that the relevant documents had already reached the public prosecutor’s office.
Paprocka emphasized that the power to halt the sentence lies with the Attorney General at this moment and repeated the President’s call for Bodnar to suspend the sentences for Wąsik and Kamiński as soon as possible.
The minister pointed out that there is no fixed deadline for a decision and drew attention to the unique circumstances surrounding the case.
It appears the Attorney General cannot treat this as a routine matter; the broader state context makes it a singular case, she observed.
She noted that the president announced on Thursday the initiation of pardon proceedings against Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik at the request of their wives. Duda stressed that the proceedings would run in a presidential mode and asked the Attorney General to suspend the sentence and release the prisoners during the pardon process.
Under Article 139 of the Constitution, the President of the Republic has the right to pardon; however, this right does not apply to individuals convicted in the State Court. The Chancellery of the President clarifies that the constitutional concept of pardon has a broader scope than the procedural act described in the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The case of Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik
In March 2015, Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik — former head of the CBA and his deputy — were legally sentenced to three years in prison and banned from public service for ten years for exceeding their powers in connection with actions tied to the so-called land scandal. The court found that Kamiński had planned and organized a provocation by the CBA, though there was no legal or factual basis for initiating a CBA action at the Ministry of Agriculture led by Vice Prime Minister Andrzej Lepper. The two former CBA leaders were pardoned by President Duda in 2015, a fact that remains part of ongoing discussion about the current pardon attempts.
The case resurfaced after a Supreme Court ruling in June 2023. The Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court, following cassation appeals by assistant prosecutors, overturned the prior termination of the case involving the former CBA leaders and referred the matter back to the Supreme Court for reconsideration.
On December 20, 2023, a Warsaw court sentenced Kamiński and Wąsik to two years in prison. Subsequently, on a Tuesday, police arrested the two while they were staying at the presidential palace.
[Citation: wPolityce] The broader public discussion about the situation continues, with ongoing coverage highlighting the political and legal dimensions involved.
The current discourse includes reflections on the implications for Poland’s governance and the balance between executive clemency powers and the judiciary, as analyzed by observers and commentators.