Poland's Government Suspends the Constitutional Tribunal's President, and President Nawrocki Calls It a Forcible Seizure

Poland's justice ministry suspended Bogdan Święczkowski as president of the Constitutional Tribunal on Friday, and police were deployed outside the court in Warsaw after security warnings, according to Euronews. Vice president Bartłomiej Sochański was also suspended. President Karol Nawrocki turned his plane back from a trip to Senegal.

The two camps describe the event in opposite terms. The tribunal's presidium called it an attempted coup, the independent Russian-language channel Ostorozhno Novosti reported, as large crowds gathered at the building. Kommersant, citing the Polish outlet Wiadomości, quoted Nawrocki as saying the tribunal had been seized by force overnight. Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government says it is restoring the rule of law. The dispute dates to the previous Law and Justice (PiS) government. Nawrocki, an ally of PiS, refused to swear in three of six judges chosen by the current parliament, and Święczkowski, a former PiS-era deputy justice minister, blocked judges elected by the current majority from taking their seats. Police said they detained three people after some protesters threw projectiles.

Kommersant's morning summary said the suspension had sharpened Poland's judicial crisis. Russian officials used the event in their messaging. Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian president's special envoy for investment cooperation, said "not everything is in order" in Europe and urged European countries to "atone," according to TASS. RIA Novosti reported early Saturday that Nawrocki had left the tribunal building.