Poland Deploys Riot Police at Top Court as Government Seeks to Strip 2 Judges' Immunity
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Oct 30
Poland Deploys Riot Police at Top Court as Government Seeks to Strip 2 Judges' Immunity
3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Oct 30
Summary
Riot police blocked demonstrators from entering Poland's Constitutional Court in Warsaw after Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek moved to strip President Bogdan Święczkowski and Vice-President Bartłomiej Sochański of immunity for criminal charges.
Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, one of five judges elected since March, was placed in temporary charge of the court after suspending the two senior judges, a step they rejected as illegal and described as a "coup d'etat."
Donald Tusk defended the intervention as part of restoring the rule of law after PiS-era judicial changes, while PiS-backed President Karol Nawrocki turned his plane back to Warsaw and supporters protested outside the court.
The clash stems from PiS appointments made after 2015 that European courts said included 3 improperly chosen judges, rulings Tusk has used to challenge the court even as presidential vetoes have blocked broader reversals.