21h41 – Conflict over the Supreme Court in Poland: Walesa joins the supporters of the judges

The conflict over the Polish Supreme Court intensified Wednesday: the former hero of the struggle against communism Lech Walesa came to support the president of the court who refuses to leave office, the Prime Minister accusing the institution of sheltering former Communist judges, the authors of "shameful sentences."

Lech Walesa came expressly from Gdansk (north) on Wednesday night to the demonstrators gathered in the Supreme Court for "defend the independence of justice" in Poland, promising "to return" more than once "if necessary", according to AFP journalists.

"Those who violate the Constitution are criminals "said the former president, targeting the ruling conservative party. "If we give in on the courts, it will continue, and we must do our utmost to defend" the independent judiciary, said Walesa Nobel Peace Prize 1983 and former head of the trade union Solidarnosc (Solidarity), which played a key role in The fall of the communist regime

"With so many (protesters) we will not get much," he said, before encouraging the audience to gather more people. "We, patriots, we must unite."

"If necessary, I will come back here to see you and to discuss," he added, before leaving the place. 19659002] On Wednesday morning, acclaimed by a much larger crowd of her supporters, the President of the Polish Supreme Court Malgorzata Gersdorf went to her office and chaired a meeting of the College of the Court, thus confirming her refusal to leave retirement under a controversial reform, also criticized by Brussels

She explained again at a press conference that the Constitution – which sets her term of office at six years – was a priority over to the law that lowered the retirement age of judges from 70 to 65.

– "Red Line" –

For the Conservatives in power, the law came into force and Mrs. Gersdorf, aged Age 65, is automatically retired.

Reform, if it is applied, will lead to the retirement of 27 judges of the Supreme Court. A "purge" for Mrs Gersdorf and a "red line" not to cross for the European Commission

It launched Monday an emergency infringement procedure against Warsaw. This could lead, after several steps, to the European Court of Justice (CJEU) and financial sanctions.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, questioned Wednesday on Polish judicial reforms in the European Parliament Strasbourg, affirmed that it was a question of reinforcing the efficiency of the justice and the fight against the corruption.

"Do you know that judges of the time of the state of siege (1981, coup de force of the general Wojciech Jaruzelski vs. Solidarnosc, editor's note), who had pronounced shameful sentences, are today in the Supreme Court that you defend? ", He told his opponents, baduring that his country was fighting" again against the legacy of Communism. "

In Warsaw, Mrs. Gersdorf and Judge Jozef Iwulski, whom she chose" without any outside consultation "to replace her during her leave, gave details of the role of the latter.

A clarification was necessary because a collaborator of President Andrzej Duda had said on Tuesday that Judge Iwulski had been appointed to act in the interim pending the election of Ms. Gersdorf's successor.

"I am neither a replacement nor successor to the President of the Supreme Court, I'm just a person appointed to replace her during her absences, "said Iwulski. Gersdorf said she plans to go on holiday next week, without specifying the duration of her absence.

The conflict between the president of the Supreme Court and the Polish power is part of judicial reforms denounced by their opponents in Poland as going against the principle of separation of powers, and which are the subject of a wider dispute between Warsaw and the European Commission on the Rule of Law.