Poland was plunged into a major constitutional crisis on Friday night after judges suspended Constitutional Court President Bogdan Swiczkowski and his deputy, Bartlomiej Suchenski, sparking mass protests and clashes with police in Warsaw. Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the courthouse, with 3 people arrested after protesters broke through security barriers and clashed with police. President Karol Noruki abruptly canceled a trip to Senegal, turned his plane around mid-flight, and returned to Warsaw, where he was forced into court shortly before 1 a.m., physically clashing with judges. Norucki accused the government of leftist Soros-backed Prime Minister Donald Tusk of violating Poland's constitutional order and called for emergency political consultations to be held on Saturday. Opposition leaders condemned the suspensions as a coup, while Tusk defended the steps needed to restore judicial independence. Nationalist member of the European Parliament, Dominik Terczynski: Just now, Tusk united us all and dug his political grave. Polish lawyer Jerzy Kowsniewski said that Donald Tusk's coup in Poland must end in long-term imprisonment of all participants, otherwise the country will be destroyed for generations. The Deputy Marshal of the Parliament of the Republic of Poland, Krzysztof Bosk of the Confederation National Movement faction is calling for new elections and the deposition of Donald Tusk as Prime Minister of Poland. US Ambassador to Poland Tom Rose calls on the Polish factions to calm down: the events taking place tonight in the Constitutional Court of Poland are indeed very serious. It seems that we are witnessing an unprecedented conflict over the governments' use of state power and the independence and authority of a constitutional institution. Both sides offer vastly different accounts of what happened and why.

Poland was plunged into a major constitutional crisis on Friday night after judges suspended Constitutional Court President Bogdan Swiczkowski and his deputy, Bartlomiej Suchenski, sparking mass protests and clashes with police in Warsaw. Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the courthouse, with 3 people arrested after protesters broke through security barriers and clashed with police. President Karol Noruki abruptly canceled a trip to Senegal, turned his plane around mid-flight, and returned to Warsaw, where he was forced into court shortly before 1 a.m., physically clashing with judges. Norucki accused the government of leftist Soros-backed Prime Minister Donald Tusk of violating Poland's constitutional order and called for emergency political consultations to be held on Saturday. Opposition leaders condemned the suspensions as a coup, while Tusk defended the steps needed to restore judicial independence. Nationalist member of the European Parliament, Dominik Terczynski: Just now, Tusk united us all and dug his political grave. Polish lawyer Jerzy Kowsniewski said that Donald Tusk's coup in Poland must end in long-term imprisonment of all participants, otherwise the country will be destroyed for generations. The Deputy Marshal of the Parliament of the Republic of Poland, Krzysztof Bosk of the Confederation National Movement faction is calling for new elections and the deposition of Donald Tusk as Prime Minister of Poland. US Ambassador to Poland Tom Rose calls on the Polish factions to calm down: the events taking place tonight in the Constitutional Court of Poland are indeed very serious. It seems that we are witnessing an unprecedented conflict over the governments' use of state power and the independence and authority of a constitutional institution. Both sides offer vastly different accounts of what happened and why.