Polish president turns plane around to return home as court chief’s suspension sparks protest

Wojtek Radwanski/AFP/Getty Images

Police secured Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal on Friday as dozens of protesters gathered to demonstrate against what they perceive as the wrongful suspension of the top court’s president by the current pro-European government.

Police said they detained three people after some protesters breached the tribunal’s fence and others threw objects at officers.

Polish President Karol Nawrocki, who was flying to Senegal, said he turned his flight back because of the situation.

“At a moment like this, the President must be in Poland. I ⁠am cutting short my flight to Senegal. I am returning,” he wrote on X.

Poland’s top judicial bodies, including the Constitutional Tribunal, have been a major bone of contention between the current pro-European government and the main opposition party, national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS).

Slawomir Kaminski/Agencja Wyborcza/Reuters

Critics in Poland and the European Union accuse PiS, which led the country between 2015 and 2023, of imposing political control over key judicial institutions, including the Constitutional Tribunal.

The PiS reforms led the EU to impose fines on Poland.

The pro-European government of Donald Tusk came to power in 2023 with a promise to restore the independence of the judiciary.

Since then, the government’s efforts have been blocked by veto by two successive presidents aligned with PiS, including Nawrocki.

The information about the suspension of the president of the Constitutional Tribunal, Bogdan Święczkowski, was published on the website of the court around 6 p.m. local time.

The website of the Tribunal went down soon after so The Associated Press could not independently verify the official reasons given for his suspension.

Agencja Wyborcza/Reuters

Święczkowski became head of the Constitutional Tribunal under the PiS government, and Tusk has accused him of blocking judges elected by the parliamentary majority from taking up their posts at the tribunal.

“Restoring the rule of law is our obligation,” Prime Minister Tusk wrote on X on Friday evening.

“After years of lawlessness under PiS this is a difficult process, sometimes painful and it requires decisive action. There is no other way.”

Speaking about the future of the Constitutional Tribunal at Campus Polska in August, Tusk said his government had a plan to ensure the tribunal would be again staffed with lawfully appointed judges while acknowledging his methods may not be to everyone’s liking.

Politicians from PiS, currently the largest opposition force, have criticized Święczkowski’s suspension.

“This is a blatant, criminal attack on the constitutional order,” former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro wrote on X Friday evening.

“That is why I call for resistance that will be loud, firm, solidary and fearless.”

Wojtek Radwanski/法新社/盖蒂图片社

周五，波兰警方封锁了宪法法院，数十名抗议者聚集在此，抗议他们认为现任亲欧政府错误地暂停了最高法院院长的职务。

警方表示，一些抗议者闯入法庭围栏，另一些人向警员投掷物品，随后警方拘留了三人。

波兰总统卡罗尔·纳沃茨基当时正飞往塞内加尔，他说由于局势原因，他取消了航班返回。

“在这样的时刻，总统必须身在波兰。我缩短了飞往塞内加尔的航班。我要回来了。”他在X上写道。

波兰最高司法机构，包括宪法法院，一直是现任亲欧政府与主要反对党——民族保守派法律与公正党（PiS）之间争论的焦点。

斯拉沃米尔·卡明斯基/Agencja Wyborcza/路透社

波兰和欧盟的批评人士指责在 2015 年至 2023 年期间执政的法律与公正党（PiS）对包括宪法法院在内的关键司法机构实施政治控制。

波兰执政党法律与公正党（PiS）的改革导致欧盟对波兰处以罚款。

唐纳德·图斯克领导的亲欧派政府于 2023 年上台，承诺恢复司法独立。

此后，政府的努力遭到了与法律与公正党结盟的两任总统（包括纳沃罗茨基）的否决，导致相关法案无法通过。

宪法法院院长博格丹·斯维奇科夫斯基被停职的消息于当地时间下午 6 点左右在法院网站上公布。

此后不久，仲裁庭的网站就瘫痪了，因此美联社无法独立核实官方给出的停职理由。

路透社/Wyborcza

Święczkowski 在法律与公正党 (PiS) 政府时期成为宪法法院院长，图斯克指责他阻止由议会多数派选举产生的法官就任该法院的职务。

“恢复法治是我们的义务，”总理图斯克周五晚间在X网站上写道。

“在法律与公正党执政多年，社会秩序混乱不堪，这是一个艰难的过程，有时甚至痛苦，需要采取果断行动。别无他法。”

8 月在波兰校园大会上谈到宪法法院的未来时，图斯克表示，他的政府有一项计划，以确保该法院再次由合法任命的法官组成，同时他也承认他的方法可能并非人人都能接受。

目前最大的反对党法律与公正党(PiS)的政治家们批评了对斯维奇科夫斯基的停职处分。

“这是对宪法秩序的公然犯罪攻击，”前司法部长兹比格涅夫·齐奥布罗周五晚上在X上写道。

“因此，我呼吁大家进行响亮、坚定、团结、无畏的抵抗。”