Poland facing coup d’état – top court

Polish President Karol Nawrocki has canceled a planned trip to Senegal and is returning to Poland after Prime Minister Donald Tusk ordered a raid on the country’s top court. The court has described the raid as a

“coup.”

Riot police surrounded the headquarters of Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw on Friday night, and judges Bogdan Swieczkowski – the court’s president – and Bartlomiej Sochanski were suspended and had their profiles scrubbed from the court’s website.

Shortly after officers cordoned off the building, the court’s official X account claimed that the website had been subjected to an

“unlawful takeover,”

and that the two justices had been wrongfully removed.

“All persons participating in these actions are committing the crime of a coup d’état,”

the court stated.

Tusk took credit for the operation, claiming on social media that the raid was necessary to prevent

“lawlessness.”

Tusk has been locked in a months-long battle with Nawrocki and his right-wing PiS party, with Nawrocki refusing to swear three new justices appointed by parliament into office.

Tusk’s liberal Civic Coalition controls Poland’s parliament, while Nawrocki holds the presidency, and the Constitutional Tribunal is dominated by judges appointed by PiS before Tusk took power in 2023. During PiS’ eight years in power, the EU repeatedly accused the party of manipulating the court, after it ruled in favor of Polish law over EU law on multiple occasions.

In a post on X, Nawrocki said that he was canceling a trip to Senegal mid-flight to attend to the crisis.

“At such a moment, the President must be in Poland,”

he wrote.

“I’m interrupting my flight to Senegal. I’m returning.”

Protesters have gathered outside the court and at least three people have been arrested, according to Warsaw police. The police force has launched what it calls an operation against “

aggressive behavior

” from the crowd.

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