Poland's prosecutor general wants action over Nawrocki's conduct at Constitutional Tribunal

In brief

• Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek hopes prosecutors will act over President Nawrocki's conduct at the Constitutional Tribunal.
• A scuffle broke out at the tribunal's entrance after midnight on 31 October between the president and judges.
• The president's side and the judges give conflicting accounts of the incident.
• The tribunal's chairman and his deputy were suspended on Friday, and police entered the building on 30 October.

Justice minister calls for prosecutors to act

Justice Minister and Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek said he hopes prosecutors will take action over the conduct of President Karol Nawrocki as he pushed into the Constitutional Tribunal building (Генпрокурор Польщі хоче розслідувати поведінку Навроцького біля Конституційного трибуналу – Українська правда) (Генпрокурор Польщі хоче розслідувати поведінку Навроцького біля Конституційного трибуналу – Європейська правда). Żurek said he was deeply concerned about videos circulating online. He argued that a person covered by presidential immunity should not burst in and attack judges. He called the conduct scandalous and said he had been ashamed of the head of state. He also said the president was using the situation to stir up emotions on the streets.

Scuffle at the entrance

Nawrocki broke off his trip to Senegal and went back to Warsaw on 30 October, arguing that at such a moment he needed to be in Poland (Нічний візит до трибуналу закінчився сутичкою: президент Польщі опинився в епіцентрі скандалу – TSN). After midnight he arrived at the tribunal with Zbigniew Kapiński, first president of the Supreme Court. A convoy stopped about 50 metres from the entrance, and the president walked the rest of the way. Inside the doorway, a scuffle broke out between the president and judges, including Krystian Markiewicz and Anna Korwin-Piotrowska (Криза в Польщі: Навроцький вночі прорвався до Конституційного трибуналу – Європейська правда).

Conflicting accounts

Presidential spokesman Rafał Leśkiewicz said people blocking the entrance tried to keep the head of state out and violated his inviolability (Навроцкий столкнулся с сопротивлением во время посещения Конституционного трибунала – NV). Marcin Przydacz, head of the president's international policy bureau, said the judges tried to push and grab the president. Judge Maciej Berek said Nawrocki physically attacked judges, Korwin-Piotrowska in particular. He posted video showing the president asking a woman who blocked his path to step aside. Nawrocki described the night as a forcible seizure of a constitutional body and called urgent consultations with parliamentary parties (Президент Польщі заявив про силове захоплення трибуналу та скликав термінові консультації – UNIAN).

Background to the standoff

On Friday, the tribunal's website announced the suspension of its chairman, Bogdan Święczkowski, and his deputy, Bartłomiej Sochański. Police entered the building on 30 October. Opposition supporters gathered outside the tribunal overnight.

Read also

• Polish PiS calls suspension of Constitutional Tribunal chief a 'state coup' as police block court building
• Nawrocki enters Constitutional Tribunal after midnight; scuffles and leadership dispute deepen