Explained: Who are the ex-ministers jailed in Poland and why were they convicted?

Former Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski and his deputy Maciej Wasik were detained by police and taken to prison this week - a month after being convicted of abuse of power. But why?

Their high-profile arrests, which took place inside the presidential palace in Warsaw while the president was at a different location in the city, have triggered raw emotion and protests in Poland.

The move was condemned by the Law and Justice (PiS) party - the nationalist party of which they are members, and which was in power until last October's election - as "an illegal kidnapping and a violation of all democratic rules." However, members of the new, pro-European coalition government said that it shows nobody is above the law.

Polish President Andrzej Duda, himself aligned with the PiS, has now said that he is starting the process of pardoning the two imprisoned former ministers and has applied to the prosecutor general for them to be released. Duda had previously said that he would not "rest until Mariusz Kaminski and his associates are free." 

Polish cabinet member Tomasz Siemoniak said on Thursday the government will not stand in the way if the courts pardon Kaminski and Wasik.

What is the background to the arrests?

Kaminski was first elected a member of parliament in 1997 and was re-elected in 2001 and 2005. He resigned in 2006 to become the head of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau. Political opponents said he and his associates pursued corruption with excessive zeal, using methods they said sometimes circumvented laws and hounded innocent people.

In 2009, Kaminski and Wasik were accused of abuse of power for allowing agents under their command to use entrapment in an investigation. Both have denied wrongdoing. 

In 2015, Kaminski and Wasik were found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison. They appealed and a few months later, after PiS came to power, Duda pardoned both men, allowing Kaminski to become interior minister.

Lawyers questioned whether Duda was entitled to pardon them before an appeals court issued a final ruling. The Supreme Court said last year that the case should be reopened.

How have things developed since their arrests?

Kaminski and Wasik were sentenced in December to two years in prison. On Monday a court issued orders to take both men to prison.

Hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the palace and in front of a police station where the two were being held. The crowd chanted "Free political prisoners" and "Shame!"

In protest against his detention, Kaminski started a hunger strike, while Duda said he was deeply shaken by the events and has since said he would pardon the two former ministers.

Duda's intention to pardon them, and the current government's acceptance of his move if courts approve it, are the latest twists in a saga that has kept the country in political turmoil since power passed over at the October election.

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