Poland's former Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski and his deputy Maciej Wasik were detained at the presidential palace in Warsaw last week and sent to prison after being convicted of abuse of power in former roles.

The two members of the former Law and Justice (PiS) government - of which President Andrzej Duda is an ally - announced they were going on a hunger strike after their imprisonment.

It couldn't immediately be determined which court Duda was referring to, and the order could not immediately be confirmed by Reuters.

The case comes as a new pro-European government is attempting to roll back reforms implemented by the previous administration that critics say increased political influence over the courts while also holding those it accuses of wrongdoing to account.

Rolling back the previous government's judicial reforms is essential to unblock billions in European Union funds.

PiS has sought to portray Kaminski and Wasik as political prisoners, a description that has been rejected by the government and human rights activists.

"Today I received information from the wife of Mariusz Kaminski that... a court order has been made that he should be force-fed," Duda told reporters at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

"I again call on (Justice) Minister Bodnar, the prosecutor general, in whose hands lies the ability to end the prsion sentence of Mariusz Kaminski and Maciej Wasik, he can do it at any time."

Justice Minister Adam Bodnar has questioned why Duda does not use his own right as president to pardon the pair, instead initiating a longer procedure to help secure their freedom.

Kaminski and Wasik were first convicted of abuse of power in 2015 for allowing agents under the former's command to use entrapment in an investigation. They denied wrongdoing and were pardoned by Duda, allowing them to take up their government posts.

In that case, lawyers questioned whether Duda had the power to pardon Kaminski before an appeals court issued a final ruling.

Last year, after Prime Minister Donald Tusk came to power, the Supreme Court said the case should be reopened and Kaminski and Wasik were sentenced by a lower court in December to two years in prison.

They were not immediately sent to prison amid a legal dispute over whether they had lost their immunity to prosecution as members of parliament.

(Reporting by Alan Charlish; Editing by Bernadette Baum)