President Bronislaw Komorowski has already pardoned 52 convicts in his term, two of them in a so-called “extraordinary presidential mode”.

The Presidential Chancellery has stated in a press communiqué that in each case the court issued a positive opinion on the pardon and the Prosecutor General presented a positive conclusion on the exercise of clemency.

All the pardon cases were submitted to the Chancellery while Lech Kaczynski was president.

Earlier, the Gazeta Polska weekly wrote that President Komorowski pardoned five convicts in the so-called “extraordinary presidential mode” introduced by his predecessor Lech Kaczynski.

According to the mode, the president asks the Prosecutor’s Office and the court whether a certain convict can be pardoned instead of taking a decision on the basis of what the court and Prosecutor’s Office have suggested beforehand.

The newspaper also accuses Komorowski of having signed acts of pardon for people whom Kaczynski had refused to pardon, including members of organised crime groups, killers, people who abused their families and did not pay alimony.

The Presidential Chancellery has denied the accusations, arguing that Komorowski pardoned only two people in “extraordinary presidential mode” and both cases were initiated by Lech Kaczynski. (mg/jb)

Source: PAP