Polish President Cuts Short Senegal Trip as Police Enter Tribunal Grounds

Polish President Karol Nawrocki cut short his flight to Senegal on Friday and returned to Poland after police entered the grounds of the Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw and the court's president, Bogdan Święczkowski, was suspended.

“At a moment like this, the President must be in Poland. I am cutting short my flight to Senegal. I am returning,” Nawrocki wrote on X.

His plane turned back over Spain shortly after 18:00 local time, according to the Polish Press Agency (PAP). He was due to make a working visit to Senegal on Saturday in connection with the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar.

Police Enter Tribunal Grounds

Police said officers entered the Tribunal's premises after incidents near a gathering outside the court, including dangerous objects thrown at officers.

They said they also acted on a notification from Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, who warned of possible threats to the lives and health of judges and staff and of a risk to public order. Warsaw police said officers were on the grounds but not inside the Tribunal building, and that their actions did not interfere with the court's work.

Tribunal President Suspended

A notice on the Tribunal's website announced a one-month break in duties for Święczkowski and Vice President Bartłomiej Sochański. Korwin-Piotrowska, the longest-serving judge, issued the order and took over running the court, according to PAP.

The notice cited, among other grounds, preventing the convening of a General Assembly with all judges properly elected by the Sejm, and assigning judges to panels in a way that contradicts the law.

Prosecutor General and Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek said prosecutors sent the Tribunal five requests to lift immunity: four for Święczkowski and one for Sochański.

Rival Claims Over Who Leads the Court

The Tribunal's official X account said its website had been unlawfully taken over, that Święczkowski remains president and that Korwin-Piotrowska is not a Tribunal judge. It accused those involved of a coup d'état.

Święczkowski arrived outside the court after 20:00 and said he would meet Nawrocki once the president was back in Poland.

Law and Justice (PiS) leader Jarosław Kaczyński called the police action an attack on the Tribunal. Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on X that restoring the rule of law is the government's duty and that, after years of PiS-era lawlessness, the process is difficult and requires decisive action.

A Tribunal Paralyzed by Years of Dispute

A long-running political dispute has effectively paralyzed the Tribunal. After taking power in December 2023, Tusk's government refused to recognize the court, arguing it was filled with judges appointed under the previous PiS government.

Nawrocki, who took office in August 2025 with PiS backing, refused to swear in some of the judges chosen by parliament this year, while Święczkowski declined to let judges elected by the current majority take up their duties, Reuters reported. In May, the European Court of Human Rights ordered that four of them be admitted, but the Tribunal rejected the order.