David Velez

Under the cover of night and in the absence of the President of the Republic of Poland from the country, the police have forcibly taken control of the empty Constitutional Tribunal building. The police claim that activities posing a threat to health and life were allegedly taking place inside the vacant building over the weekend. Despite this, the Tribunal’s own security personnel, the Vice-President of the Tribunal, and its director are being denied entry. In violation of the law, the police officers have obscured the identification numbers and names on their uniforms—a practice typically employed when an officer knows they are breaking the law and wishes to avoid being identified. President Karol Nawrocki has ordered the presidential aircraft, which was en route to Senegal, to turn back; he is now returning to Poland. Previously, the President had warned Prime Minister Donald Tusk that any attempt to forcibly enter the Constitutional Tribunal would be met with a firm response. Article 128 of the Polish Penal Code stipulates that anyone who, with the intent to remove a constitutional body of the Republic of Poland by force, engages in activities directly aimed at achieving this objective, is subject to a prison sentence of up to 20 years. Two years ago, the President of the Constitutional Tribunal filed a notification with the prosecutor's office, alleging that the government—under the direction of Prime Minister Donald Tusk—had committed the crime of a coup d'état. The process of authoritarian consolidation in Poland continues. The assault on the Constitutional Tribunal and the President represents the final stages of a complete, undemocratic seizure of power. Once again in its history, Poland is fighting against totalitarianism.