Polish President Karol Nawrocki cut short his foreign trip as police and protesters clashed in Warsaw over the government's suspension of the Constitutional Tribunal's president and senior justices, intensifying a major political dispute.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki abruptly returned from his flight to Senegal on Friday after the country's top court, the Constitutional Tribunal, was thrown into disarray. Police and protesters clashed outside the tribunal in Warsaw following the government's decision to suspend the court's president, Bogdan Swieczkowski, and his deputy, and to pursue criminal charges against them. Riot police were reportedly deployed as demonstrators, largely supporters of the opposition Law and Order (PiS) party, threw objects at officers. This escalation is rooted in a long-running political dispute over the tribunal; President Nawrocki, an ally of the former nationalist PiS government, had previously refused to swear in judges nominated by parliament, while Swieczkowski, a former PiS deputy justice minister, had blocked judges elected by the current parliamentary majority from taking office. Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government asserts its obligation to restore the rule of law, with Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek requesting the lifting of immunities for Swieczkowski and his deputy. However, PiS politicians, including leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, have condemned the government's actions as a 'coup' against the tribunal.
