Polish President Returns From Senegal Trip as Constitutional Tribunal Faces Police Intervention
President Karol Nawrocki aborted his flight to Senegal and returned to Poland after riot police were deployed at the Constitutional Tribunal, where its president was suspended, prompting the court to label the action a "coup d'état."
Riot police were stationed outside Poland's Constitutional Tribunal on Friday, and President Karol Nawrocki turned his plane around while travelling to Senegal, saying on X, "At a moment like this, the President must be in Poland. I am cutting short my flight to Senegal. I am returning."
The suspension of Tribunal President Bogdan Święczkowski and his deputy Bartłomiej Sochański was announced by judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, following a request from Justice Minister and Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek to lift their immunity. The Tribunal’s official X account described the suspension as a "coup d'état," adding, "Ms. Anna Korwin-Piotrowska is not a judge of the Constitutional Tribunal. All persons participating in these actions are committing the crime of a coup d'état."
Dozens of police officers guarded the building’s entrance as supporters of the now-opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party gathered to protest the move, chanting slogans and holding religious items. During PiS’s tenure from 2015 to 2023, the European Union had criticized the court for aligning closely with the government and for rulings that gave Polish law precedence over EU legislation. Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said he will seek to resolve the dispute with Brussels after the 2023 election, while President Nawrocki has blocked the president’s appointments to the court.