On 11 July, Andrzej Duda exercised the right of grace towards Robert Bąkiewicz, who was legally convicted of violating the bodily immunity of Catherine Augustinek, an activist known as "Grandmother Kasia". Let us remind him that on 3 November 2023 the court sentenced him to a year of restrictions on freedom in the form of unpaid social work – 30 hours a period – and judged him to pay PLN 10 1000 to the victim.
The earlier decision to suspend the execution of this punishment was abrogated by Minister of Justice and lawyer General Adam Bodnar, considering that there are no longer grounds for Bąkiewicz, erstwhile president of the independency March Association and the current head of the National defender self-proclaimed, inactive benefiting from this.
Bąkiewicz's abrupt pardon by the president sparked a wave of criticism, besides from Prime Minister Donald Tusk. He called it "scandal in the human moral dimension" and "a political signal that this full team, together with Nawrock, Kaczyński and Braun, will not back distant from anything to regain power." "It's time everyone understood this," wrote Tusk on platform X, and Andrzej Duda did not owe him.
Let us add that the authoritative release of the President's Chancellery stated that the decision to pardon was dictated by "a affirmative opinion of the environment, the incidental nature of the act and a unchangeable lifestyle".
Małgorzata Paprock defends Andrzej Duda's decision to pardon Robert Bąkiewicz. "Case closed"
Thursday was hosted by "Guest Events" in Polsat News by Małgorzata Paprocka, head of the President's Chancellery. – This decision within the prerogative, the right of grace has been exercised. After 10 years of presidency, this is not the emotion that accompanies specified decisions – so she answered the question whether Andrzej Duda regrets the decision.
As she added, "there is simply a calm assessment of the legal state, of the facts, besides of the position presented by courts or the lawyer General." She besides pointed out that the scope of the applicable law of grace "is precisely what the lawyer General applied for before the current coalition took power", or Zbigniew Ziobro.
With respect to the justification of the decision, where it is indicated, inter alia, that "positive environmental opinion" and "stabilised lifestyle", Paprocka pointed out that "these are the conditions which arise from the Code of Criminal Procedure" and "so precisely the legal language of these cases describes". "We are not talking about a hypothetical situation, we remember what happened," she said.
The head of the President's Chancellery besides referred to doubts about the timing of the decision. – Here there are no deadlines arising from the Constitution or another legal acts. This is simply a free decision by the President, whether he likes it or not, signed Paprocka in Polsat News.
– It is known that in the situation around the Border Defence Movement (self-appointed group – ed.), around the situation in the state, 1 can imagine as if there was a suspension of execution. The president made his decision at that point, agreed to the lawyer General's motion, and the case is closed. The president made his decision at that point, agreed with the lawyer General's motion and the case is closed," she concluded.
