Polish President Seeks Pardon for Jailed Populist Lawmakers Despite Controversy
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Polish President Andrzej Duda is seeking a new pardon for two populist lawmakers, Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik, who were arrested inside the Presidential Palace.
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Tens of thousands protested in Warsaw against the arrest of the lawmakers, who are members of the ousted populist Law and Justice (PiS) party.
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The lawmakers were sentenced last month to 2 years in prison for corruption charges from when PiS was previously in power 2005-2007.
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President Duda had previously pardoned them in 2015, but it was later overturned. He defended pardoning them again.
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The lawmakers have started a hunger strike in prison, protesting their detention as “political prisoners.”