Polish President Karol Nawrocki was forced to abort an official state visit to Senegal and return immediately to Warsaw after a dramatic escalation in Poland’s judiciary crisis triggered widespread political turmoil.

According to Reuters, Nawrocki turned his plane around mid-flight on Friday following reports that police had entered the premises of Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal, culminating in the suspension of the court’s President, Bogdan Święczkowski. Święczkowski is a prominent ally of the opposition Law and Justice party, and his suspension marks a significant flashpoint in the ongoing battle for control over the country’s legal institutions.

The sudden crisis unfolded after a day of chaotic protests and police intervention at the tribunal building. Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, the court’s longest-serving judge, subsequently announced that Święczkowski had been suspended and that she was assuming temporary leadership of the constitutional court.

The moves have exposed deep fault lines within the European nation’s political establishment. Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s pro-European coalition government has defended the measures as essential to restoring the rule of law after years of judicial reforms under previous administrations. However, opposition figures have fiercely condemned the police action and suspension, describing the intervention as a direct attack on Poland’s constitutional order.

–Reuters/ChannelAfrica–