POLAND ERUPTS OVER SUSPENDED COURT JUDGE RIOT POLICE DEPLOYED DUE TO COUP
Written by Michael Thervil
[POLAND COURT JUDGE SUSPENDED COUP RIOT POLICE] On day two, in what many Polish legal scholars, observers, and the PiS; right-wing conservatives of the political chessboard are calling “an assault on the courts”. This is in response to the suspension of its top Judge and President Bogdan Święczkowski along with his Deputy Bartłomiej Sochański surrounding the legitimacy of the court itself. Hundreds of protestors rallied outside Poland's Constitutional Tribunal Court to show their support of the suspended leading Judge as Riot Police were deployed to combat what opposition leaders are calling a “coup d’état”. The under; lying reason for the suspension of the Tribunal's top Judge is because according to the European Union, the court has repeatedly ruled in favor of Polish legislation over the law of the European Union.
All of this has had a trickledown effect in which caused the President Karol Nawrocki of the PiS to turn his plane around mid-flight to address the issue in person in Warsaw effectively delaying his scheduled state visit to Senegal. Some protestors assaulted Police Officers after breaching the gates of the Tribunal Court and throwing rocks and other items at them leading to the arrest and detainment of at least three protestors. President Karol Nawrocki essentially forced his way past Riot Police to enter the Tribunal Courts just before making the announcement that the government appointees “were not Judges of the Constitutional Court”.
According to sources, this situation has been in the making since 2015 as the leadership of both the left and right wing of the Polish government have used the court as a political game of tug of war by utilizing and manipulation Polish legislation through interpretation to gain a majority control of the Tribunal Court. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk who holds a pro-European position stated that the suspension was necessary to maintain judicial independence. Within an official press statement Prime Minister Tusk said “Restoring the rule of law is our obligation. After years of lawlessness under PiS this is a difficult process, sometimes painful and it requires decisive action. There is no other way.”
Prime Minister Tusk also claimed that President Bogdan Święczkowski alone broke the law several times and in doing so he purposefully blocked Judges who were elected by the parliament majority from exercising their duties from their respective seats. While it appears that Polish Prime Minister Tusk pushes the agenda of Europe, the citizens of Poland have been steadfast in their willingness to adhere to the Constitution of Poland itself while resisting pressure from the Europeans. All of this is occurring despite Europe enacting fines against Poland as a country. Could foreign actors be responsible for what is occurring in Poland? Some think that that could be a possibility.
Comments