Arya News - Poland`s President Karol Nawrocki called off a visit to Africa mid-flight and returned to Warsaw, where police surrounded the constitutional court on Friday after the suspension of its chief justice…
Dozens of police guarded the entrance to the court as followers of the opposition right-wing Law and Justice party (PiS) protested the ousting of constitutional court president Bogdan Swieczkowski.
The court"s official X social media account said there had been a "coup d"etat" and some demonstrators chanted "Tusk traitor" as they condemned the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
Some of those protesting said prayers while holding Roman Catholic rosaries and religious images © Wojtek RADWANSKI / AFP
Some tried to force their way through security barricades. Police said they had arrested three people who had tried to enter the court complex.
Tusk was "trampling on our constitutional rights", demonstrator Tomasz Zaleski told AFP outside the court.
Tusk"s government has been trying for weeks to force out the court"s judges, who were appointed by the previous PiS government that ruled from 2015 to 2023.
The court frequently ruled in favour of Polish legislation over EU law and the European Union accused Poland"s highest court of being too close to the nationalist political power of the time.
Mid-flight chaos
Tusk, a strongly pro-EU figure, vowed to end the dispute with Brussels after winning an election in 2023. But the country"s president, a right-wing independent, has blocked his nominations to the court.
Former PiS prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski addressed the demonstration and called for Nawrocki to act. The president said he had called off an official trip to Senegal in mid-flight and ordered it back to Warsaw.
Back in the capital, Nawrocki held a meeting with Swieczkowski and the court"s first chief justice Zbigniew Kapinski at the presidential palace.
Nawrocki then entered the constitutional court building, his chief of staff Pawel Szefernaker said early Saturday, adding that the president was accompanied by Kapinski.
Nawrocki pushed his way through the crowds to enter the building, footage from local television showed.
The suspension of Swieczkowski was announced by another judge, Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, who said the move was needed to restore the rule of law.
Police stand outside Poland"s Constitutional Court after the apparent suspension of its chief justice © Wojtek RADWANSKI / AFP
Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek, who is also the attorney general, told journalists he had requested the lifting of the legal immunity of Swieczkowski and his deputy Bartlomiej Sochanski.
"This court has become private property; we must restore its proper functioning," he added.
Tusk justified the action in a comment on X.
"Restoring the rule of law is our duty," he said.
"After years of PiS-led lawlessness, this is a difficult process, sometimes painful, and it requires decisive action. There is no other way."
Poland"s Constitutional Court has become the latest battleground between the country"s centrist parties and its nationalist right wing © Wojtek RADWANSKI / AFP
The constitutional court"s official website was not accessible on Friday evening.
Its X account said there had been a "coup d"etat" and that Swieczkowski remained in office.
Korwin-Piotrowska could not become interim chief as she had not been sworn in by the president, it added.
Amid the confusion, Korwin-Piotrowska commented: "In modern Europe, a democratic state cannot function without a constitutional court... that acts as a guarantor of citizens" rights and freedoms."
© 2026 AFP