成千上万波兰民众抗议政府司法改革

More protests against a new judiciary law are expected across Poland Wednesday as thousands march against what they say is the right-wing government's plans to take over the courts.

Thousands waving Polish and European Union flags and shouting slogans demanding free courts demonstrated in Warsaw and other Polish cities Tuesday.

Under a new law that lowers the mandatory retirement age for justices, more than a third of Supreme Court justices will be forced into retirement Wednesday. They include Supreme Court President Malgorzata Gersdorf, a strong critic of the ruling conservative Law and Justice party. She calls it a "purge conducted in the Supreme Court ... under the pretext of the retrospective change in retirement age."

Nobel Prize-winning Solidarity founder Lech Walesa said he will be among those marching Wednesday, saying he is ready to "lead a physical removal of the main perpetrator of all misfortune" -- a reference to Law and Justice party chief Jaroslaw Kaczynski. Walesa did not elaborate on what he meant by "physical removal."

The government says changes to the judiciary are necessary, saying many of the rules date back to the days of communism.

预计波兰各地星期三将发生更多针对一项新法律的抗议活动。成千上万波兰民众举行示威，反对他们所称的右翼政府控制法院的计划。

星期二，华沙和其它城市数以千计的示威民众挥舞波兰和欧盟旗帜，呼喊要求维护法院独立的口号。

波兰的一项新法律降低了法官的法定退休年龄，三分之一最高法院的法官星期三将被迫退休，其中包括首席法官格尔斯多夫。格尔斯多夫法官是对保守的执政党法律正义党的猛烈批评的人士，她称这项法律是“以实施有追溯效力改变退休年龄的法律在最高法院进行的清洗”。

诺贝尔和平奖得主、团结工会创始人瓦文萨说，他将参加星期三的游行示威，还说要领导一场运动，“切实根除罪恶之源”。他是指法律正义党主席卡钦斯基。瓦文萨没有详细解释他讲的“切实根除”。

波兰政府说，必须进行司法改革，很多规定还是当年共产党当政时制定的。