Polish riot police guard top court after chief justice suspended

Warsaw — Riot police deployed around Poland's Constitutional Tribunal on Friday after the court suspended its own president, Bogdan Swieczkowski, in the sharpest escalation yet of the feud between Donald Tusk's centrist government and the nationalist right. President Karol Nawrocki, an ally of the opposition Law and Justice party (PiS), turned his plane around mid-flight from a trip to Senegal, saying the president must be in Poland at such a moment.

Police said they entered the court's premises after incidents outside, including objects thrown at officers, and detained three people after some in the crowd launched what they called "dangerous projectiles", according to Al Jazeera. Dozens of officers guarded the entrance as PiS supporters gathered, some chanting "Tusk traitor". The court's official social media account declared there had been a "coup d'etat", the South China Morning Post reported.

The suspension is the latest move in a dispute that has paralysed the tribunal. Over the past six months Swieczkowski, appointed under the former PiS government, used his position to block judges elected by the current parliamentary majority from taking up their duties. Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek told reporters he had requested that the immunity of Swieczkowski and his deputy be lifted for failing to fulfil their duties by preventing judges from working. Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, one of three judges Nawrocki has refused to swear in over alleged flaws in her selection, has now been placed in charge of the court.

Tusk defended the move on X, arguing that restoring the rule of law was the government's duty, that undoing the damage of the PiS years was a difficult and at times painful process requiring decisive action, and that there was no other way. PiS, the largest opposition force, called it an assault on the state. Former justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro wrote that it was "a blatant, criminal attack on the constitutional order".

The tribunal has been contested ground since PiS governed from 2015 to 2023, with critics in Poland and the EU accusing the party of packing it with friendly judges. Tusk's pro-European government promised to restore judicial independence, but two attempts have been vetoed by PiS-aligned presidents, Nawrocki among them. Since his election in mid-2025, Nawrocki has refused to swear in three of six judges nominated by parliament.

The next point to watch is whether prosecutors act on Zurek's request to lift the immunity of Swieczkowski and his deputy, which would open the way to charges — and whether Nawrocki, now back in Warsaw, moves to break or deepen the deadlock over the court's composition.