Poland: Protesters, police clash over suspended court chief

Protesters have gathered outside Poland's Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw since Friday evening, accusing Prime Minister Donald Tusk's center-left government of undermining the constitution and the judiciary after the court's president and deputy were suspended.

The protests follow a statement published on the Constitutional Tribunal's website announcing that its president, Bogdan Swieczkowski, and his deputy had been suspended for one month. Fellow judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska will lead the court during that period.

According to Warsaw police, officers responded to one judge who alerted them to possible threats to the safety of judges and staff.

Swieczkowski is one of a slew of politically aligned judges who were appointed by the right-wing conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS), which governed Poland from 2015 to 2023.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk backed the move in a post on X.

"Restoring the rule of law is our duty," Tusk said.

"After years of PiS-led lawlessness, this is a difficult process, sometimes painful, and it requires decisive action. There is no other way," he added.

When Tusk's center-left alliance took over after the 2023 parliamentary election, the group announced it would reverse controversial PiS government reforms in the judiciary.

Dozens of riot police were deployed to the court as followers of PiS protested against the ousting of Swieczkowski through the evening.

The court's official X social media account said there had been a "coup d'etat," with some chanting "Tusk traitor" as they condemned the step taken by the Tusk government.

Meanwhile, President Karol Nawrocki began consultations with political representatives on Saturday amid the escalating dispute.

The first to arrive at the Presidential Palace was Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, leader of the Christian-conservative Polish People's Party (PSL), which is part of Tusk's governing coalition.

"State security, respect for democracy, social peace and public order are fundamental values," Kosiniak-Kamysz posted on X ahead of the meeting. He said these would be the issues he intended to discuss with the president.

At the heart of the dispute is a power struggle between Poland's two largest political camps over control of the Constitutional Court.

During its time in government, the nationalist-conservative PiS party appointed judges seen as politically aligned with it, reshaping the court's composition.

The European Court of Justice subsequently ruled that the Constitutional Court could not be considered an independent and impartial tribunal because of serious irregularities in the appointment of some of its judges and its then president.

In recent months, President Karol Nawrocki has refused to swear in five judges nominated by parliament. The judges instead took their oaths before parliament, but Constitutional Court president Bogdan Swieczkowski refused to grant them access to the court building.