Riot Police Guard Poland’s Constitutional Court Amid Government‑Judiciary Standoff
Riot police were deployed to the Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw as the Tusk government moves to strip immunity from two senior judges.
Police presence escalates as Warsaw court becomes flashpoint
Riot police have been stationed at Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal following a sharp confrontation between Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government and the court’s top judges.
The dispute centers on Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek’s request to strip President Bogdan Święczkowski and Vice‑President Bartłomiej Sochański of their immunity, paving the way for criminal charges.
Tusk, who has pledged to de‑politicise the judiciary, defended the move on Friday as he faced a crowd of Law and Justice (PiS) supporters gathered outside the court.
President Karol Nawrocki, a PiS‑backed figure, entered the tribunal according to his chief of staff, cancelling a mid‑air flight to Senegal that was intended for the Summer Youth Olympic Games in Dakar.
Riot police were deployed to prevent demonstrators from entering the building.
In a social‑media post, the Constitutional Court asserted that the two judges remain the legally appointed senior justices of the court, adding that “All persons participating in these actions are committing the crime of a coup d'etat.”
Tusk’s own social‑media message read: “Restoring the rule of law is our duty. After years of Law and Justice’s lawlessness, this is a difficult, sometimes painful process that requires decisive action. There is no other way.”
The PiS‑led government, which took office in 2015, quickly filled the court with its appointees to secure a majority capable of ruling on the legality of legislation. Subsequent rulings by the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union found three of those appointments improper, concluding that the Constitutional Court was no longer an “independent and impartial tribunal.” Tusk’s administration has used those judgments to cease publishing the tribunal’s rulings.
The situation remains tense as both sides brace for further legal and political maneuvers.
