Riot police seal Warsaw Constitutional Court as government targets top judges

What Happened

Riot police were sent to the Constitutional Court in Warsaw after the justice minister asked to remove immunity from the court's president, Bogdan Święczkowski, and vice‑president Bartłomiej Sochański, opening the way for criminal charges. The move follows Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s pledge to depoliticise the judiciary and has been described by the court’s own social media as an attempt at a coup d’état.

Reaction

Judge Anna Korwin‑Piotrowska said she would not allow anyone onto the tribunal grounds, citing safety concerns, and warned that parliamentarians have no right to act inside the building. Ambassador to China Jakub Kumoch quit his post, saying the situation made his work impossible; Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski called the resignation unprofessional and said Kumoch no longer represents Poland. President Karol Nawrocki cut short a trip to Senegal, returned to the Presidential Palace and met with Supreme Court first president Zbigniew Kapiński and Święczkowski. US Ambassador Tom Rose called the scene "very serious" and warned that thousands gathered outside increase the risk of violence. MEP Arkadiusz Mularczyk labeled the episode a coup, accusing the government of unlawfully blocking legally appointed judges.

Context

Poland’s courts have become a battleground between the current centrist government and the previous right‑wing Law and Justice party, with each side accusing the other of undermining democratic checks and balances.