Polish police have arrested a former interior minister—along with his deputy—in what appears to be a political purge following contentious elections held last October.
On Jan. 9, police entered the presidential palace in Warsaw and arrested Mariusz Kaminski and Maciej Wasik, both members of the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party.
Mr. Kaminski had served as interior minister under Poland’s previous PiS-led government, while Mr. Wasik had served as deputy interior minister.
Both men, who still represent the party in Poland’s parliament, say the arrests are political.
In a social media post, party spokesman Rafał Bochenek described the action by police as an “illegal kidnapping” and “violation of all democratic rules.”
Marcin Kierwinski, the current interior minister, responded by saying, “Everyone is equal before the law.”
Following the arrest of the two former officials, hundreds of party supporters gathered outside the presidential palace and the police station where the two men were being held.
Contentious Election
After running the country since 2015, the PiS party was swept from power in parliamentary polls held last October.It was replaced by a broad coalition of left-leaning and nominally conservative parties.
The new coalition government is led by Donald Tusk, a veteran politician who previously served as Poland’s prime minister from 2007 to 2014.
Decidedly “pro-European” in outlook, Mr. Tusk also served as president of the European Council—which is mandated with guiding EU policy—from 2014 to 2019.
As prime minister, Mr. Tusk has vowed to repair Warsaw’s relations with Brussels, which were strained under the previous government.
He has also pledged to undo many of the conservative policies pursued by his PiS predecessors.
Since assuming power, Mr. Tusk’s coalition has carried out a wide-ranging overhaul of state media institutions, claiming they had become “propaganda outlets” under the previous government.
PiS officials, however, contest the legality of the changes, which they say are aimed at silencing conservative voices in state-run media.
‘Somber Dictatorship’
Complicating the situation, the Polish presidency remains in the hands of the PiS party’s Andrzej Duda, who has held the position since 2015.When PiS first came to power eight years ago, Mr. Duda pardoned Mr. Kaminski after being convicted of abusing power while heading Poland’s anti-corruption bureau.
The presidential pardon allowed Mr. Kaminski, who still denies any wrongdoing, to eventually assume the post of interior minister.
But after last October’s parliamentary poll, Poland’s Supreme Court reopened the case against Mr. Kaminski and overturned Mr. Duda’s pardon.
The court also sentenced Mr. Kaminski—along with his deputy, Mr. Wasik—to two years in prison.
On Jan. 8, the court issued formal arrest warrants for both men.
The next day, Mr. Duda—who insists his initial pardon should stand—hosted both men at the presidential palace.
“A somber dictatorship is being formed,” Mr. Kaminski told reporters after the meeting.
“We cannot allow Poland to start taking political prisoners,” he added.
Nevertheless, shortly after the meeting, police entered the building and arrested the two former officials.
Mr. Duda, for his part, was reportedly not in the building when the arrests occurred.
Mr. Tusk, meanwhile, has accused Mr. Duda of “obstructing justice” by hosting the two men at the presidential palace.
Hunger Strike
On Jan. 10, Mr. Kaminski announced from prison that he had started a hunger strike to protest his arrest.“I treat my conviction … as an act of political revenge,” he said in a statement, which was read aloud by a spokesman outside the prime minister’s office.
“As a political prisoner, I am starting a hunger strike from the first day of my imprisonment,” the statement reads.
Maria Ejchart, Poland’s deputy justice minister, responded by saying: “If a politician is in prison, it does not mean he is a political prisoner.”
“Everyone has the right not to eat or drink,” she added. “This is an individual decision.”
Mr. Duda, meanwhile, says he “will not rest” until Mr. Kaminski and Mr. Wasik are released, insisting that his 2015 pardon was in line with Poland’s constitution.
Szymon Holownia, speaker of parliament’s lower house, said the court convictions against both men would effectively serve to annul their parliamentary mandates.
He also announced that a scheduled parliamentary session would be postponed to next week in light of the arrests.
“My task is to ensure the dignity of the Sejm [parliament] and ensure social harmony,” Mr. Holownia, an ally of Mr. Tusk, said in a statement.
