2 hours ago

Warsaw police detained an armed man at a protest held amid a dispute over the Constitutional Tribunal

Ana Maria Eftene

31 October 2026, 15:48

Politics

Credit: AA/ABACA / Abaca Press / Profimedia

Always see our news on Google

Warsaw police detained a 30-year-old man on Saturday who was carrying a knife, a pistol loaded with blank rounds, drugs and an identification card marked “Security”, resembling a police ID card. The incident took place during a protest organized outside Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal.

The man was spotted by a female protest organizer, who asked him to uncover his partially covered face. According to police, he struck her and fled. Several protesters chased him, shouting “Provocateur!”, and he was later restrained by officers providing security for the demonstration.

The detention comes amid intense political tensions over the composition and leadership of the Constitutional Tribunal. Supporters of the national-conservative Law and Justice party are protesting against the temporary suspension of the court’s president and deputy president, both appointed during the PiS government’s time in office.

President Karol Nawrocki accused Prime Minister Donald Tusk of orchestrating the forcible takeover of a constitutional institution. Tusk rejected the accusation and said the government was seeking to restore the rule of law. Nawrocki cut short a visit to Africa and returned to Poland for urgent political consultations.

Context: the crisis at the Constitutional Tribunal escalated after police intervention and the suspension of the court’s leadership

Before the protest incident, tensions surrounding the Constitutional Tribunal increased on Friday after police intervened at the institution’s headquarters. According to reports, the longest-serving judge, Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, suspended the court’s president, Bogdan Święczkowski, and took over as acting president, even though Poland’s president, Karol Nawrocki, had reportedly refused to validate her appointment.

The conflicts were also amplified at the diplomatic level: Poland’s ambassador to Romania, Paweł Soloch, announced his resignation in a public message, citing an “illegal attempt” to take over the Constitutional Tribunal; the resignation came after a similar decision previously announced by the ambassador to China, Jakub Kumoch, who cited the country’s political context.