Police detain 3 protesters during overnight rally as Polish president backs suspended judge

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Anti-government protesters rallied overnight around a top court in Poland to denounce the suspension of the tribunal's president for which they blame the country's pro-European government. Police said they detained three protesters after some threw objects at the officers and tried to break through the security fence around the court.

Meanwhile, Polish President Karol Nawrocki — who opposes the pro-European government — turned back his plane during a flight to Senegal on Friday evening and returned home over the situation.

“At ​a moment like this, the ​President must be in Poland. I ⁠am cutting short my flight ​to Senegal. I am returning,” he ​wrote on X.

After returning to Poland, Nawrocki made his way to the Constitutional Tribunal despite the chaos and said he helped the suspended court president to also enter the building.

On Saturday morning, Nawrocki said a “breach of Poland’s constitutional order” had taken place and called parliamentary group heads for an urgent meeting Saturday on "stabilizing the political situation.”

The protests over the long embattled Constitutional Tribunal are likely to sharpen the contention between Poland's pro-European government and its opponents, chiefly the main opposition party, the national-conservative Law and Justice, or PiS. Poland’s top judicial bodies, including the constitutional court, have been a major bone of contention between the two sides.

Critics in Poland and the European Union accuse PiS, which led the country between 2015 and 2023, of imposing political control over key judicial institutions. Reforms introduced under the PiS government prompted the EU to impose fines on Poland.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk's pro-European government came to power in 2023 with a promise to restore the independence of the judiciary. Since then, its efforts have been blocked by vetoes by two successive presidents aligned with PiS, including Nawrocki.

On Friday evening, the Constitutional Tribunal's website announced the suspension of court president Bogdan Święczkowski. Shortly after, the protesters — including PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński and far-right politicians — started rallying outside the building.

The government says Święczkowski repeatedly broke the law and jeopardized the tribunal's work. Święczkowski became head of the court under the former PiS government. Tusk has accused him of blocking judges elected by the parliamentary majority from taking up their posts at the tribunal.

“Restoring the rule of law is our obligation,” Tusk wrote on X on Friday evening. “After years of lawlessness under PiS this is a difficult process, sometimes painful and it requires decisive action. There is no other way.”

Tusk had earlier pledged that his government would ensure the tribunal would be again staffed with lawfully appointed judges while acknowledging his methods may not be to everyone’s liking.

Politicians from PiS have criticized Święczkowski’s suspension.

“This is a blatant, criminal attack on the constitutional order,” former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro wrote on X late Friday. “That is why I call for resistance that will be loud, firm, solidary and fearless.”