Polish President Karol Nawrocki said Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal, one of the country’s highest judicial bodies, was forcibly seized in Warsaw overnight.

Axar.az reports, citing foreign media, that Nawrocki made the remarks while addressing rally participants.

“Public order was violated in the Republic of Poland tonight, and a constitutional state institution was seized by force. I consulted the First President of the Supreme Court, Judge Zbigniew Kapinski. He also considers the actions of those who usurped power at the Constitutional Tribunal to be unlawful,” he said.

Nawrocki called for the restoration of the rule of law and urged law enforcement officers to leave the grounds of the Constitutional Tribunal.

Tensions surrounding Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal have continued since mid-October. One of the main sources of the dispute is a disagreement between the government and the president over the appointment of judges and the oath-taking procedure.

On October 16, prosecutors, accompanied by police, arrived at the Tribunal building and obtained documents and surveillance camera footage as part of an investigation. Although the Tribunal’s leadership considered the intervention unlawful, it voluntarily handed over the requested materials.