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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
The head of Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal (TK), who is an ally of the conservative opposition, has announced a criminal investigation against Prime Minister Donald Tusk and other senior officials from the ruling coalition. He says they are guilty of operating as an “organised criminal group” in order to mount a “coup d’état”.
The development marks the latest twist in – and deepening of – Poland’s ongoing constitutional and rule-of-law crisis, which has seen clashes on various fronts between the current government, on one side, and officials and institutions still loyal to the former ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, on the other.
#WydanieSpecjalne | Bogdan #Święczkowski (@TK_GOV_PL): Mówimy tutaj o przestępstwie zamachu stanu! Jednocześnie z uwagi na wagę zawiadomienia, osób podejrzewanych, w tym w szczególności Prezesa Rady Ministrów Donalda Tuska oraz Ministra Sprawiedliwości, Prokuratora Generalnego… pic.twitter.com/QevfZ4ksvq
— Telewizja Republika 🇵🇱 #włączprawdę (@RepublikaTV) February 5, 2025
Bogdan Święczkowski was last month picked as the new chief justice of the TK by President Andrzej Duda, another PiS ally. He previously served as a senior prosecutor under PiS and before that as a deputy justice minister in the PiS government.
However, the government regards the TK in its current form as illegitimate due to the presence of judges unlawfully appointed during PiS’s time in power. It has consistently ignored its rulings and other pronouncements.
In an announcement this afternoon, Święczkowski said that he had filed notifications of suspected crimes against officials including Tusk, government ministers, the speakers of both houses of parliament, as well as various judges, prosecutors and other officials.
He accuses them of operating “in an organised criminal group…with the aim of changing the constitutional system of Poland”, including by restricting and undermining the activities of the TK, the National Council of the Judiciary (KRS), and the Supreme Court.
The latter two of those bodies were, like the TK, overhauled by PiS in a manner that placed them under greater political influence and that has been found by various Polish and European court rulings to have rendered them illegitimate in part or in whole.
“One can see clearly that we are dealing with a coup d’état,” said Święczkowski. “I asked [the government] for dialogue. Unfortunately, this did not happen. The constitutional crisis in Poland is deepening. There is no will on the part of the authorities to end these unlawful actions.”
President Duda has chosen as the new head of the constitutional court Bogdan Święczkowski, who was a senior official under the former government.
The current government does not recognise the legitimacy of the court and is likely to continue to ignore it https://t.co/dpfQt9p0Y1
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) December 9, 2024
Święczkowski revealed that, in response to his notifications, deputy public prosecutor general Michał Ostrowski, another PiS-era appointee, has launched an investigation into the alleged crimes of mounting a coup d’état and attacking a constitutional body.
The first carries a prison sentence of between ten years and life in prison for anyone “who, with the aim of depriving Poland of its independence, severing part of its territory, or forcibly changing the constitutional system, undertakes, in agreement with other persons, activities aimed directly at achieving this goal”.
The second punishes anyone “who, with the aim of forcibly removing a constitutional body of Poland, undertakes activities directly aimed at achieving this goal” with between three and 20 years in prison.
Prezes TK Bogdan Świeczkowski złożył do Prokuratury zawiadomienie o uzasadnionym podejrzeniu popełnienia przestępstwa m. in. przez Prezesa Rady Ministrów, ministrów, Marszałka Sejmu, Marszałka Senatu, Prezesa RCL, niektórych sędziów i prokuratorów. https://t.co/d6RV79Vvu0
— Trybunał Konstytucyjny (@TK_GOV_PL) February 5, 2025
Święczkowski’s announcement and Ostrowski’s decision were welcomed by PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński. He declared that, since coming to power, Tusk’s government has “unlawfully taken over” public media and the National Prosecutor’s Office as well as prevented the functioning of the TK and KRS.
Tusk himself, however, literally laughed off Święczkowski’s actions. He shared a video on social media showing someone asking him about the claim that he was guilty of a coup d’état.
“Give it a rest, we have serious issues to deal with here,” replied Tusk, before starting to play table tennis.
Zamach stanu 🤣 pic.twitter.com/h9STStBt1E
— Donald Tusk (@donaldtusk) February 5, 2025
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Slawomir Kaminski / Agencja Wyborcza.pl
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
