Polish Police Secure High Court Following Suspension of Chief Justice

Polish riot officers deployed around the constitutional tribunal in Warsaw on Friday after the government suspended the court chief and moved to bring criminal charges against top justices.

Authorities detained three people after demonstrators breached the perimeter fence and threw various objects at security personnel guarding the building.

Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek requested the removal of legal immunity for tribunal President Bogdan Święczkowski and Vice-President Bartłomiej Sochański.

President Nawrocki turned his aircraft around mid-flight while heading to Senegal for an official visit and flew back to the capital.

The confrontation marks a dramatic escalation in a long-running battle over judicial independence between Prime Minister Donald Tusk and nationalist opponents.

Prime Minister Tusk defended the intervention as a necessary step to reverse years of institutional decay and reestablish democratic norms.

“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,” said Donald Tusk, the prime minister.

Opponents aligned with the Law and Justice party condemned the intervention and gathered outside the tribunal to denounce the government.

“This is a blatant, criminal attack on the constitutional order,” said Zbigniew Ziobro, the former justice minister.

The tribunal's official social media account also rejected the suspension and characterized the actions against its leadership as unlawful.

“All persons participating in these actions are committing the crime of a coup d'etat,” said the constitutional tribunal in a statement.

Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska announced the suspension of Święczkowski, though tribunal defenders argued she lacked the proper presidential oath to assume interim authority.

The tribunal has remained a focal point of friction since the previous nationalist administration packed the bench with loyalists starting in 2015.

European courts previously ruled that the tribunal lost its independence under the prior administration, prompting Tusk to withhold publication of its rulings.

“At a moment like this, the President must be in Poland. I am cutting short my flight to Senegal. I am returning,” said Karol Nawrocki, the president.

It remains unclear how the government will enforce the suspension and whether further legal challenges will halt the tribunal's operations.