POlen's President Andrzej Duda has pardoned for a second time two former members of the elected national-conservative PiS government who were imprisoned and convicted of abuse of office. Former Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński and his former State Secretary Maciej Wąsik should be released from prison with immediate effect, Duda said in Warsaw on Tuesday.

Duda announced almost two weeks ago that he had asked Justice Minister Adam Bodnar to initiate pardon proceedings. Bodnar responded to this application with a negative statement on Tuesday. However, this is not binding for the president.

The dispute over the fate of Kamiński and Wąsik has become a central point in the dispute between the center-left government of Donald Tusk and the PiS with its ally Duda in recent weeks.

The two politicians were arrested on January 9th and taken to prison after initially seeking protection in the presidential palace. The PiS describes the two as “political prisoners”.

Kamiński and Wąsik were sentenced to two years in prison for abuse of office by a Warsaw district court in December following an appeal. Duda pardoned the two after an initial trial in 2015. However, the Supreme Court declared this pardon to be unlawful because the appeal process was still ongoing at the time. Duda emphasized again on Tuesday that, in his view, the pardon from 2015 was still valid.

Kamiński has been on hunger strike since the start of his detention. According to Duda, his health is poor.