The prosecutor general has submitted motions to strip immunity from Constitutional Tribunal president Bogdan Święczkowski and deputy president Bartłomiej Sochański, Wyborcza.pl reported on Friday evening. According to the outlet, Święczkowski then attempted to enter the tribunal building, which was being guarded by police. President Karol Nawrocki cut short a flight to Senegal, with his aircraft turning back over Spain and returning to Poland, Wyborcza.pl reported.
Why it matters
The standoff places a constitutional body at the centre of a direct confrontation between state institutions. Wyborcza.pl reported that police had regrouped outside the tribunal and announced the dispersal of an assembly, while a crowd pressed against officers at the fence. The outcome will shape how far the government can act against tribunal leadership — and whether the president intervenes directly.
A night of confrontation outside the building
Wyborcza.pl's reporter at the scene, Jakub Sukiennik, described demonstrators pushing toward police and scuffles continuing along the perimeter fence. Earlier, officers had repositioned and declared the gathering dissolved.
Organisers on a stage called on the president to come to the site, and the crowd chanted his first name in response, according to Wyborcza.pl. The outlet also reported that demonstrators had cut through the entrance gate.
The same reporting quoted a slogan from the protest: that they would enter the tribunal "one way or another."
Judges and politicians react
Zbigniew Kapiński, first president of the Supreme Court, issued a statement expressing what Wyborcza.pl described as the highest outrage and firm opposition to Friday's actions concerning the tribunal. He said the limits on public authorities in Poland are set by the constitution and statutes, not by improvised political decisions, service orders or displays of force.
Kapiński added that staying silent about actions undermining the independence of constitutional bodies amounts to consent to practices that threaten the foundations of the state's constitutional order, and said the tribunal is today the target of such actions, Wyborcza.pl reported.
Sławomir Mentzen wrote on social media that he was appealing to President Nawrocki to convene the National Security Council that same night, arguing the situation had moved beyond a constitutional crisis, and urged party leaders to discuss whether it was time to stop and reach an agreement, according to Wyborcza.pl.
A diplomatic resignation
Jacek Kumoch announced on X that he had resigned as Poland's ambassador and asked to be recalled, writing that given events in the country he judged it impossible to continue in the post, Wyborcza.pl reported.
Marcin Przydacz, who heads the president's International Policy Bureau, wrote on X that Kumoch stepped down in response to what he described as lawbreaking by Donald Tusk's government and a forceful attack on the Constitutional Tribunal, calling the move a sign of courage and responsibility for Polish democracy and the country's image, according to Wyborcza.pl.
What to watch
Attention now turns to whether the president convenes the National Security Council and how the immunity motions proceed. Wyborcza.pl reported that demonstrators were waiting for the president to appear at the tribunal.
