Image source, Radek Pietruszka/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock Image caption,

Hundreds of PiS supporters gathered outside the palace to protest against the arrests

By Adam Easton

BBC News, Warsaw

Polish police have arrested the former interior minister and deputy interior minister inside the presidential palace in Warsaw in a day of unprecedented political theatre.

Mariusz Kaminski and Maciej Wasik were sentenced to two years' jail last month for abuse of power when they led an anti-corruption office in 2007.

Following the arrests, the new interior minister Marcin Kierwinski wrote on X: "Everyone is equal before the law."

The arrests highlight the political turmoil between the Law and Justice (PiS) party and the new pro-EU coalition.

The men, who were elected PiS MPs in October, refused to recognise last month's court decision because President Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally, pardoned them for the crime in 2015. Mr Duda has also said he does not recognise the court's ruling because he insists his pardon remains valid.

The pair have been stripped of their parliamentary mandates, but both they and President Duda insist they remain legally elected MPs because of the pardon.