The European Parliament has voted to lift the legal immunity of two Polish MEPs from the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik, according to Euractiv.
The move cleared the way for their prosecution in Poland over allegations of defying a ban on holding public office. The decision also intensified a bitter feud between Poland’s ruling centrist coalition and the nationalist opposition.
Kamiński and Wąsik, both former heads of Poland’s Central Anticorruption Bureau (CBA), were convicted in December 2023 of abusing authority during a 2007 corruption investigation.
They received prison sentences and a five-year ban from public roles. Despite being pardoned by President Andrzej Duda, they continued parliamentary work, leading to fresh charges of violating penal measures, a crime punishable by up to five years in prison.
After securing MEP seats in the 2024 EU elections, the pair claimed their brief imprisonment in late 2023 involved “forced feeding,” which they likened to “torture” under Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government. They now face prosecution after the European Parliament’s plenary endorsed a request by Poland’s Prosecutor General, Adam Bodnar, to strip their immunity.
The move has deepened Poland’s political divide, with Kamiński denouncing the decision on social media.
It is outrageous that we are being prosecuted for fulfilling our duties to the voters who entrusted us with parliamentary mandates.
In response, Michał Szczerba of Tusk’s Civic Platform vowed that the European Parliament would “not serve as a refuge for anyone” and the two MEPs would “answer for their illegal actions.”
With both sides digging in, the legal proceedings against Kamiński and Wąsik are poised to become a flashpoint in Poland’s polarised landscape, testing the resilience of its democratic institutions.
