Hundreds of demonstrators from Poland’s opposition Law and Justice party clashed with police outside the Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw on Friday night, October 31, after the court’s president was suspended amid a dispute over judicial appointments, reports Xinhua. The protesters, including PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski and former prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki, accused Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government of trying to seize control of the judiciary, while the tribunal’s leadership described the suspension as an illegal takeover.
Police said they detained three protesters who entered the court’s premises; local media reported that several people were injured, although these claims remain unconfirmed. The clash followed months of conflict over the appointment of eight judges – four elected by the ruling coalition parliament, with only three sworn in by President Karol Nawrocki, an ally of PiS, while the other five were sworn in at parliamentary ceremonies that the tribunal’s president and vice‑president refused to recognise. On Friday, the tribunal’s website announced that its president and vice‑president had been suspended for one month, with a newly elected judge, whose status is disputed, assuming temporary leadership. The tribunal’s leadership, however, denounced the move and called it a coup.
"coup"
The tribunal’s leadership said the action was an illegal takeover.
Later developments saw President Nawrocki cut short a trip to Senegal and return to Poland for an emergency meeting with judicial officials at late Friday, followed by a midnight visit to the Constitutional Tribunal, according to Xinhua. The incident highlighted mounting tensions between Tusk’s ruling coalition and the opposition over Poland’s court appointments and the rule of law.
