Poland political crisis: Constitutional court in chaos as Nawrocki accuses government of staging power grab

On Friday evening, protesters and riot police faced off outside Poland's Constitutional Tribunal after the court's president was suspended, the latest episode in an intensifying stand-off between the government and the court's top judges.

Polish President Karol Nawrocki, who cut short a trip to Senegal and headed back to Warsaw as the crisis unfolded, has since called for emergency talks with political leaders and has accused the government of attempting to forcibly take control of one of the country's key constitutional institutions.

The dramatic overnight events have escalated a long-running crisis surrounding Poland's Constitutional Tribunal, from which the Polish government has been trying for weeks to remove judges - who were appointed under the previous PiS government.

What had largely been a political and legal dispute over judicial appointments and the Tribunal's leadership has now spilled over into a direct confrontation at its headquarters.

The latest episode began when seven people chosen by the Sejm to serve as Constitutional Tribunal judges entered the building on Friday.

According to Tribunal spokesperson Weronika Ścibor, security guards at the Tribunal had been ordered to pack up their belongings and leave the building.

At the same time Bogdan Święczkowski, the Tribunal's incumbent president, and vice-president Bartłomiej Sochański, were reportedly denied entry.

Ścibor suggested that the timing of the operation was deliberate and that it took advantage of the fact that some staff members were absent.

Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska subsequently announced that she was taking over the leadership of the Tribunal and suspending Święczkowski from his duties.

The current Tribunal leadership has challenged the legality of these moves.