Poland riot police deployed as deposed court chief sets off crisis

Poland’s president called urgent crisis talks with party representatives on Saturday after a dramatic showdown at the country’s constitutional court between the centrist government and nationalist right.

Karol Nawrocki cut short a trip to Senegal and returned to Warsaw, where police had surrounded the court on Friday following the suspension of its president Bogdan Swieczkowski. He said the talks were necessary because of “the threat to internal security”, in a statement read on his behalf outside court the next morning.

‘Violation of constitutional order’

The nationalist president also denounced what he called a “violation of the constitutional order” and demanded police withdraw from the court. Talks were due to begin at 10pm local time (12pm GMT) at the presidential palace.

Dozens of police guarded the building as followers of the opposition right-wing Law and Justice party (PiS) protested what they called an attempt by Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government to seize control of the institution. The court’s official X account said there had been a “coup d’etat” and some demonstrators chanted “Tusk traitor” and tried to push through security barricades.

Police said three people were arrested. Tusk was “trampling on our constitutional rights”, demonstrator Tomasz Zaleski said outside the court. US ambassador to Poland, Tom Rose, warned all sides: “Don’t take any action that could provoke violence or further escalation.”

“The last thing Poland needs is a confrontation that spirals into something far worse,” he said on X. Tusk’s government has been trying for weeks to force out the court’s judges, who were appointed by the previous PiS government that ruled from 2015 to 2023.

Court rulings

The court frequently ruled in favour of Polish legislation over EU law and the European Union accused Poland’s highest court of being too close to the nationalist political power of the time.

Tusk, a strongly pro-EU figure, vowed to end the dispute with Brussels after winning an election in 2023. But the country’s president, a right-wing independent, has blocked his nominations to the court.

Former PiS prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski addressed the demonstration and called for Nawrocki to act.

The president, who was travelling to Senegal for the opening of the Youth Olympic Games, ordered his plane to return to Warsaw.

Back in the capital, Nawrocki pushed his way through the crowds to enter the building, local TV footage showed.

Rule of law

The suspension of Swieczkowski was announced by another judge, Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, who said the move was needed to restore the rule of law.

Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek, who is also the attorney general, told journalists he had requested the lifting of the legal immunity of Swieczkowski and his deputy Bartlomiej Sochanski.

“This court has become private property; we must restore its proper functioning,” he added.

Tusk justified the action on X, saying: “Restoring the rule of law is our duty.”

“After years of PiS-led lawlessness, this is a difficult process, sometimes painful, and it requires decisive action. There is no other way.”
Adding to the confusion, the court’s X account insisted Swieczkowski remained in office. Korwin-Piotrowska could not become interim chief as she had not been sworn in by the president, it added.