Jaruzelski charged with decade of 'communist crimes'
WARSAW -- The former military leader of Poland, General Wojciech Jaruzelski, has been charged with "communist crimes" for declaring martial law in an attempt to crush the Solidarity movement in 1981.
The charges against the 83-year-old ex-soldier, who was Polish president for most of the 1980s, came after the Institute of National Remembrance, the office charged with investigating Poland's communist past, passed documents to a Warsaw court. Eight other former high-ranking communists face similar charges.
"Our aim is to fulfil an obligation to the nation and the Polish state, as well as to all those who suffered injustice and humiliation during the period of martial law," said Andrzej Drogon, an official of the remembrance institute.
If found guilty Gen Jaruzelski could face 10 years in prison for his role in suppressing the Lech Walesa-led Solidarity movement, which had become the Soviet bloc's first free trade union and had directly challenged the communist order.
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The charges against the 83-year-old ex-soldier, who was Polish president for most of the 1980s, came after the Institute of National Remembrance, the office charged with investigating Poland's communist past, passed documents to a Warsaw court. Eight other former high-ranking communists face similar charges.
"Our aim is to fulfil an obligation to the nation and the Polish state, as well as to all those who suffered injustice and humiliation during the period of martial law," said Andrzej Drogon, an official of the remembrance institute.
If found guilty Gen Jaruzelski could face 10 years in prison for his role in suppressing the Lech Walesa-led Solidarity movement, which had become the Soviet bloc's first free trade union and had directly challenged the communist order.