Warsaw, Jan 12 (IANS): Polish President Andrzej Duda said he will pardon for a second time, the senior officials that were detailed and jailed earlier this week after they were convicted of abuse of power.

In March 2015, Mariusz Kaminski and his deputy Maciej Wasik were sentenced to three years in prison for masterminding an anti-corruption provocation in 2007, when they were heading the country's Central Anti-Corruption Bureau, reports Xinhua news agency.

In November 2015 after the Law and Justice (PiS) party came to power, Duda pardoned them both, allowing Kaminski to become Interior Minister, reports Xinhua news agency

But in June 2023, the case returned to the docket, and in December, Kaminski and Wasik were sentenced to two years in prison in the same case.

After meeting Kaminski's and Wasik's wives on Thursday, Duda said that at their request, he had decided to initiate pardon proceedings for both PiS politicians.

He also said he had pardoned both men in a "textbook way" in 2015, which "remains effective".

The high-profile arrest on Tuesday, which according to Polish media reports took place in the presidential palace, is seen as an escalation of the standoff between the country's new new government and its national conservative predecessor PiS, of which Duda is an ally.

The new government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk dismissed the heads of three state media outlets after coming into power in October 2023, which angered the conservatives and triggered an exchange between Duda and Tusk over the rule of law.

A major protest was organised by PiS was staged on Thursday afternoon near the Polish Parliament against the detention, as well as Tusk’s government.

Although the police have not released official numbers, PiS claimed that some 100,000 people were present, having gathered from across the country.