About 12,000 people gathered in Warsaw, Poland, to protest changes made by the governing Law and Justice party, which the opposition believes curb freedom and democracy. Photo by Radek Pietruszka/EPA

May 6 (UPI) -- Thousands of opposition demonstrators gathered in Poland on Saturday to protest changes to made by the governing party they said are undemocratic.

Police said about 12,000 people attended the "Freedom March" in Warsaw, in which members of the opposition accused the governing Law and Justice party of making changes to curb political challenges and consolidate power.


A major cause for the unrest occurred when the Law and Justice party made changes to Poland's Constitutional Tribunal, the nation's highest court, requiring a two-thirds majority of the 15 judges to support a ruling for it to be valid, making it more difficult to strike down laws passed by the ruling party.

The European Council said the changes endangered the rule of law and launched an investigation, which is expected to yield a report at the end of the month.

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The council also said a new government power to appoint the heads of public television and radio stations may jeopardize the values of the European Union.

Law and Justice party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski said "only a total failure to see reality" would lead someone to believe freedom in Poland was being threatened.

"We have a democracy, everyone can have their opinion, everyone can protest, everyone can vote as they please, everyone can write what they want, we completely guarantee it," he said.

Grzegorz Schetyna of the Civic Platform, a group opposed to Kaczynski, said his defense was "not true and we know it," and said the march would lead to freedom and an election win.

"We are for a democratic Poland, for a European Poland, for a Poland that is proud, that seeks friends and partners, not enemies in Europe as it is today," he told protesters.