Riot police were deployed outside Poland’s Constitutional Court on Friday and Polish President Karol Nawrocki turned around Friday on his way to Senegal after police entered the Constitutional Court and its president was suspended.
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“At a time like this, the President has to be in Poland. I’m shortening my flight to Senegal. I’m going back,” he said on X.
The government is seeking to dismiss Constitutional Court judges appointed by the previous right-wing government led by the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party.
In this context, dozens of police officers guarded the entrance to the building while supporters of PiS, now the opposition, gathered to protest against the suspension of the President of the Court, Bogdan Święczkowski.
Justice Minister and Attorney General Waldemar Żurek told reporters that he had requested the lifting of the immunity of Święczkowski and his deputy Bartłomiej Sochański.
The suspension was announced by Constitutional Court judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska.
“Coup d’état”: the court denounces this decision
In a message published on its official X account, the Tribunal described this decision as a “coup d’état”.
“Ms. Anna Korwin-Piotrowska is not a judge at the Constitutional Court,” the message said. “All persons participating in these actions commit the crime of coup d’état.”
Outside the court, PiS supporters chanted “Tusk traitor”, according to an AFP journalist present on site. Some demonstrators prayed while holding Catholic rosaries and religious images.
During the ruling PiS party’s tenure from 2015 to 2023, the European Union accused Poland’s highest court of being too closely aligned with the government.
The court has repeatedly ruled that Polish law takes precedence over European law.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk pledged to resolve the dispute with Brussels after winning the 2023 election, but President Karol Nawrocki blocked his appointments to the court.
Gn world
