Polens president Karol Nawrocki interrupted a flight to Senegal on Saturday and forced his way into the constitutional court in Warsaw amid violent protests following the suspension of the tribunal’s chief judge.
President Karol Nawrocki Interrupted Foreign Travel to Enter the Warsaw Courthouse
President Karol Nawrocki cut short a trip to Senegal and returned to Warsaw early Saturday morning, navigating a massive police presence and large crowds to enter the building of Poland’s constitutional court by pushing past the judge who ordered the suspension of chief judge Bogdan Swieczkowski.
The extraordinary intervention followed a chaotic night outside the tribunal in the Polish capital. Demonstrators, largely supporters of the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, had gathered to protest the removal of Swieczkowski. According to police accounts cited in the reporting, three people were arrested after protesters breached the court’s perimeter fences and threw objects at security forces.
Nastąpiło bezprawne przejęcie strony internetowej Trybunału Konstytucyjnego.Prezesem @TK_GOV_PL jest nadal Bogdan Święczkowski, a Wiceprezesem Bartłomiej Sochański. Pani Anna Korwin-Piotrowska nie jest sędzią Trybunału Konstytucyjnego. Wszystkie osoby uczestniczące w…
I demand that the legal order be restored and that the security forces sent by the government leave the area of the constitutional tribunal.
Chief Judge Bogdan Swieczkowski Suspension Triggers Accusations of a Coup
The institutional crisis exploded on Friday after Waldemar Zurek requested that the legal immunity of tribunal president Bogdan Swieczkowski be lifted to allow criminal prosecution. The decision to suspend Swieczkowski was published on the court’s website before the platform went offline.
Swieczkowski, who was originally appointed by the previous PiS government, joined the street demonstrations personally and instructed security guards to open the compound gates. The suspended jurist and his allies characterized the government’s actions as an unlawful takeover.
In night Poland’s constitutional order was broken and a constitutional state body was taken over by force.
The tribunal’s official account on X asserted that Swieczkowski remains in office, while the court’s institutional feed labeled the events a state coup. Leaders of the far-right Confederation Liberty and Independence movement echoed the claim that the country stood on the edge of a coup.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk Defends Restoring the Rule of Law
Donald Tusk defended the removal of the chief judge as an unavoidable step toward repairing democratic norms following years of nationalist rule. The pro-European leader, who heads the Civic Coalition, took to social media to address the standoff.
It is our duty to restore the rule of law. After years of lawlessness under the PiS government, this is a difficult process, which can sometimes be painful, and it requires decisive action. There is no other way.
Donald Tusk, Prime Minister of Poland
The current confrontation stems from a long-running institutional war between the Tusk administration and the PiS-aligned presidency. Since taking office in 2023, the pro-European government has attempted to overhaul judicial bodies that both the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union previously ruled lacked independence following disputed appointments by the former PiS majority.
President Nawrocki Convenes Emergency Political Consultations
Following his departure from the courthouse early Saturday morning, President Nawrocki announced plans to urgently convene a political consultation with parliamentary parties to stabilize the national situation, citing a threat to internal security.
Przywracanie rządów prawa jest naszym obowiązkiem. Po latach pisowskiego bezprawia to proces trudny, czasem bolesny i wymaga zdecydowanego działania. Innej drogi nie ma.
Participation by the ruling coalition remained uncertain as opposition leaders voiced skepticism regarding the President’s late-night courthouse entry. Sebastian Gajewski of the New Left publicly questioned the utility of such talks after the dramatic confrontation inside the judicial chambers.