Prominent Polish judge reinstated amid standoff with EU

By VANESSA GERA
Associated Press

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s Supreme Court has reinstated a judge who was suspended for two years. The judge had become a symbol of the struggle for independent courts under Poland’s populist government. The Supreme Court also said that Judge Igor Tuleya was not guilty of a crime which prosecutors had accused him of. The case was brought because he allowed journalists to witness his announcement of a 2017 ruling. It was not immediately clear if Tuesday’s court decision would be enough to end a standoff between the Warsaw government and the European Union. The 27-member bloc has blocked billions of euros to Poland over what it views as the government’s erosion of judicial independence.