The power struggle between the president and government escalated as riot police surrounded the Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw

The longstanding struggle between Poland’s right-wing president and centrist government over control of the country’s top court dramatically escalated on Friday night as riot police surrounded the Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw.

Police were deployed as an announcement appeared on the court’s website stating that its president, Bogdan Swieczkowski, and vice-president, Bartlomiej Sochanski, had been suspended from their duties. Their profiles were reportedly removed from the website.

Shortly afterward, the tribunal’s official X account claimed that its website had been subjected to an “unlawful takeover” and insisted that both officials remained in their posts.…