The Constitutional Tribunal has the conditions and a room to invite the president, but only him, Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska told PAP late Friday. She ruled out that Bogdan Święczkowski or First President of the Supreme Court Zbigniew Kapiński could accompany him. She had earlier said that, for security reasons, she did not consent to Karol Nawrocki coming to the Tribunal.
“We concluded that we have a room and conditions suitable for inviting the president, but only him. If there is an assurance that only he will come to us, I have issued the appropriate instructions to the services protecting the Tribunal building,” she told PAP. She stressed that the Tribunal is in constant contact with the State Protection Service, which also protects the president.
President Nawrocki turned back from a trip to Senegal and will meet at the Presidential Palace with Judge Bogdan Święczkowski. Judge Korwin-Piotrowska, as the longest-serving judge, ordered a break in Święczkowski’s performance of judicial duties. Święczkowski was not allowed into the Tribunal. The president is also set to meet with First President of the Supreme Court Zbigniew Kapiński.
“We are receiving reports about the president’s meetings. It is hard for me to figure out what role President Kapiński would play here. We do not foresee the possibility of these individuals coming to the Tribunal with the president,” Judge Korwin-Piotrowska told PAP.
Judge Korwin-Piotrowska had said earlier that, in the current situation around the Tribunal, where many people are demonstrating, it is not possible to admit anyone onto the Tribunal grounds.
“If President Karol Nawrocki (who turned back from his trip to Senegal and returned to Warsaw – PAP) wishes to talk with us about calming the situation around the Tribunal, we are ready to meet with him at the Presidential Palace. Entering the Tribunal grounds is impossible because of fears for the lives and health of people inside and outside the building,” the judge told PAP.
She stressed that opening the gates, even just to let presidential vehicles through, would risk bystanders storming the Tribunal grounds and further escalation. “That is why I do not consent to such a situation. Of course, we invite the president at a later date,” she added.
At about 6 p.m. on Friday, a notice appeared on the Constitutional Tribunal’s website about the ordering of a break in the duties of Tribunal President Bogdan Święczkowski and Tribunal Vice President Bartłomiej Sochański.
Information provided to PAP by Maciej Taborowski, Magdalena Bentkowska and Maciej Berek indicates that Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, as the judge with the longest judicial service, became the person heading the Constitutional Tribunal and issued orders for one-month breaks in the official duties of Święczkowski and Sochański.
The Warsaw Metropolitan Police said that officers are carrying out statutory activities at the Constitutional Tribunal’s headquarters, in connection with information provided by Tribunal Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska about possible threats to the lives or health of Tribunal judges and staff. There are no police inside the Tribunal building. (PAP)
