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Polish riot police deployed after court chief suspended / Photo: © AFP
Polish riot police deployed after court chief suspended
Riot police deployed around Poland's constitutional court and President Karol Nawrocki called off an African visit on Friday after the suspension of its chief justice in a battle between the centrist government and the nationalist right.
The government has been trying to force out the court's judges, who were appointed by the previous right-wing government of the nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS).
Dozens of police guarded the entrance to the building as followers of the now opposition PiS gathered for a demonstration over the ousting of court president Bogdan Swieczkowski.
The court's official X social media account said there had been a "coup d'etat".
Poland's president, a right-wing independent, called off a flight to Senegal for an official trip so that he could return to Warsaw.
When the PiS was in power, from 2015 to 2023, the European Union accused Poland's highest court of being too close to the political power.
The court ruled in favour of Polish legislation over EU law on several occasions.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk had vowed to end the dispute with Brussels after winning an election in 2023. But Nawrocki has blocked his nominations to the court.
The suspension of Swieczkowski was announced by another court judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska.
Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek, who is also the attorney general, told journalists he had requested the lifting of the immunity enjoyed by Swieczkowski and his deputy Bartlomiej Sochanski.
PiS supporters outside the court chanted "Tusk traitor", according to an AFP journalist at the scene. Some said prayers while holding Roman Catholic rosaries and religious images.
Tusk justified the action in a comment on the X platform.
"Restoring the rule of law is our duty," he said.
"After years of PiS-led lawlessness, this is a difficult process, sometimes painful, and it requires decisive action. There is no other way."
The constitutional court's official website was not accessible on Friday evening.
Its X account said there had been a "coup d'etat" and that Swieczkowski remained in office.
Korwin-Piotrowska could not become interim chief as she had not been sworn in by the president, it added.
O.Anderson--SFF
