Polish protesters block parliament over press freedom

Crowds blocked the entrance to the Polish parliament late on Friday evening

Protesters have blockaded the Polish parliament in Warsaw in support of opposition MPs unhappy about rules restricting press reporting.

The opposition objects to government plans to limit the number of journalists allowed to cover parliamentary proceedings. The MPs' protest delayed a budget vote, which was later held away from the main parliament chamber.

It is believed to be the first protest of its kind in the Polish parliament for 10 years

Hundreds of police surrounded protesters in a late-night stand-off. Michal Szczerba, a MP from the opposition Civic Platform party, tweeted early on Saturday: "For the first time I have seen armed police at the parliament building."


Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the right-wing Law and Justice party (PiS), earlier denounced the protest "hooliganism". "We will not allow ourselves to be terrorised,'' he said.

He left parliament with the PiS Prime Minister Beata Szydlo at about 03:00 (02:00 GMT). Opposition MP Jerzy Meysztowicz told the TVN24 news channel that police used tear gas to clear a passage through protesters for their official vehicle.

The opposition accused the government of passing next year's budget unlawfully earlier on Friday evening by transferring the key vote to a smaller hall and excluding the press.

It was the first since the restoration of democracy in 1989 that such a vote was held outside the main chamber of parliament.

The session which passed the budget was quorate, according to Mr Kaczynski and other PiS members, but the opposition demanded that the budget vote be held again in the main parliament chamber next week.

"There is no proof that a quorum of lawmakers was present. We suspect that people who were not allowed to vote took part," said leader of the opposition Nowoczesna party Ryszard Petru.