Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Tuesday said that President Andrzej Duda could be held accountable for obstructing justice, over his actions in the case, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Tusk added that the same applies to Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, which ruled Poland between 2015 and 2023.
Two Law and Justice MPs, Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik, are due to be taken to prison after being convicted of abuse of power while heading Poland's anti-corruption service CBA.
On Tuesday, Duda's office posted a photo of the two lawmakers with the head of state at an official event in the presidential palace.
The prime minister called the situation "unbelievable," adding that convicts "are to be taken to a place of solitary confinement, but they choose another, more comfortable place of solitary confinement - the presidential palace."
In 2015, after Law and Justice came to power, the president issued a pardon for Kamiński, allowing him to become interior minister, the Reuters news agency noted.
Some lawyers called Duda's decision into question as it was issued before a final ruling by an appeals court, according to news outlets.
In June 2023, Poland's Supreme Court said the case should be reopened, the PAP news agency reported.
In December 2023, Kamiński and his deputy at CBA, Maciej Wąsik, were sentenced to two years in prison for abuse of power, the Reuters news agency reported.
Szymon Hołownia, the speaker of Poland's Sejm (lower house of parliament), said the verdict meant that Kamiński and Wąsik had lost their MP's mandates.
Meanwhile, they have denied that and said they would attend the Sejm's next sitting.
The president on Monday met with the Sejm speaker, seeking to convince him that his 2015 pardon for Kamiński was valid and the court had no right to give a second verdict, but the two did not reach an agreement, the Reuters news agency reported.
Hołownia on Tuesday postponed this week's Sejm sitting until next week to "ensure the dignity of the Sejm and social calm," according to news outlets.
The prime minister said he "fully supports" the decision.
This week, lawmakers were due to vote on the 2024 budget, according to the Sejm office.
They have until the end of January to send it to the president for him to sign; otherwise the head of state can dissolve parliament, the Reuters news agency reported.
Source: IAR, PAP, rp.pl, Reuters, sejm.gov.pl