European Parliament waives immunity of two pardoned Polish MEPs
The European Parliament (EP) has stripped two Polish deputies of their parliamentary immunity over their failure to comply with a court ruling that banned them from holding public office.
Former Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski and his former deputy Maciej Wasik had their parliamentary immunity revoked during a vote at the European Parliament's plenary session in Strasbourg on Tuesday.
In July last year, Polish Prosecutor General and Justice Minister Adam Bodnar sent motions to the EP to lift the two politicians parliamentary immunity over their non-compliance with a final court verdict that banned them from holding public office.
In December 2023, both Kaminski and Wasik were sentenced to two years in prison for masterminding an anti-corruption provocation in 2007, which the court ruled had been abuse of power while they were heading the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA). In the same verdict, the court also imposed a five-year ban on them from holding public office.
But despite the prohibition, both individuals took part in parliamentary sessions and attended a parliamentary committee sitting just days after the court banned them from performing their public roles.
They were taken to prison to serve their sentences on January 9, but Polish President Andrzej Duda granted them a pardon just weeks after their incarceration, opening the door for both to run in the European Parliament election of June 2024, and thus become immune from prosecution over any other potential crimes they may have committed.
Kaminski and Wasik are prominent members of the Law and Justice (PiS) party that ruled Poland from 2015 to 2023 and has maintained an alliance with Duda. (PAP)
jd/jch/ grg/
