Standoff over Poland's top court sends its president racing home
Riot police were deployed at Poland's Constitutional Tribunal on Friday after its president, Bogdan Święczkowski, and his deputy were suspended. President Karol Nawrocki turned his plane back from a trip to Senegal. Prime Minister Donald Tusk calls it restoring the rule of law; the opposition calls it a coup.
Bias breakdown and outlet coverageon the RUSH story page →What happened
Polish President Karol Nawrocki cut short a state flight to Senegal and returned to Warsaw after Constitutional Tribunal President Bogdan Święczkowski and his deputy were suspended for one month, ABC News and The Daily Caller reported. TASS reported Nawrocki convened an urgent session with the court chief. Human Events reported protesters clashed with police outside the tribunal as the court's head was removed, with opposition figures calling it a coup d'état.
Police sealed the tribunal building after protesters threw objects and tried to breach the fence; three demonstrators were detained, according to ABC News. Nawrocki entered the building overnight and said a constitutional body had been seized by force, The Daily Caller reported.
What each side says
Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government has described the suspensions as necessary to restore the rule of law after years of Law and Justice appointments to the court, while Nawrocki and PiS leaders call the action an assault on the constitutional order, according to Human Events and The Daily Caller. TASS reported the president framed the crisis as requiring an emergency meeting of parliamentary leaders.
Why it matters
The fight pits Poland's elected government against its elected president over who controls the court that rules on whether laws are constitutional, and the standoff has drawn riot police to the tribunal steps.