Police secure Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal as protests erupt over court chief’s suspension

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Police secured Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal on Friday as dozens of protesters gathered to demonstrate against what they perceive as the wrongful suspension of the top court’s president by the current pro-European government.

Police said they detained three people after some protesters breached the tribunal’s fence and others threw objects at officers.

Polish President Karol Nawrocki, who was flying to Senegal , said he turned his flight back because of 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.

Poland's top judicial bodies, including the Constitutional Tribunal, have been a major bone of contention between the current pro-European government and the main opposition party, national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS).

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, including the Constitutional Tribunal. The PiS reforms led the EU to impose fines on Poland.

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

The information about the suspension of the president of the Constitutional Tribunal, Bogdan Święczkowski, was published on the website of the court around 6 p.m. local time. The website of the Tribunal went down soon after so The Associated Press could not independently verify the official reasons given for his suspension.

Święczkowski became head of the Constitutional Tribunal under the PiS government, and 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," Prime Minister 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.”

Speaking about the future of the Constitutional Tribunal at Campus Polska in August, Tusk said his government had a plan to 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, currently the largest opposition force, have criticized Święczkowski's suspension.

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