Posted on 12/13/2005 1:15:39 PM PST by lizol
Jaruzelski to Be Charged for Martial Law
By RYAN LUCAS ASSOCIATED PRESS
WARSAW, Poland (AP) -
Prosecutors said Tuesday they were preparing charges against the nation's last communist leader, Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski, for his imposition of martial law, as Poles marked the 24th anniversary of the clampdown.
Prosecutors argued that Jaruzelski violated the constitution when he imposed martial law in 1981, said Ewa Koj, a prosecutor with the National Remembrance Institute, which pursues communist-era crimes.
Jaruzelski, 82, also could face charges for harassment, the internment of thousands of government opponents and the deaths of almost 100 people during some 18 months of martial law.
Jaruzelski could not be reached for comment, but he has maintained that martial law pre-empted a Soviet invasion.
Koj indicated the charges, which were expected to be filed early next year, could lead to three years in prison.
"It's necessary to say at last that the general is not a hero, that what he did was bad and brought about serious consequences," she said on TVN24 television.
Jaruzelski's government imposed martial law on Dec. 13, 1981, and outlawed the Solidarity movement, which was pushing for economic reforms and democracy.
On Tuesday, President-elect Lech Kaczynski visited the Wujek coal mine in southern Poland where nine miners were killed on Dec. 16, 1981, when protesting martial law.
"We will never forget this crime," Kaczynski wrote in the visitors' book, later placing flowers at the monument to the fallen miners.
In Warsaw, youths dressed as communist-era riot police evoked the gloomy atmosphere of martial law as they stood in the Royal Castle Square, at the time the site of many violent clashes between civilians and security forces.
Jaruzelski still faces trial for the 1970 shooting deaths of striking shipyard workers in the Baltic port cities when he was defense minister. The trial began in 2001 but was stalled due to procedural problems.
Some 15 years after he stepped down as the nation's leader in 1990, formally ending communist rule in Poland, Jaruzelski remains a controversial figure. Vilified by political conservatives for martial law, he is lauded by former communists for peacefully relinquishing power.
Good. About time a commie tyrant got called out.
Ramsey Clark's next client?
Finally. Now hopefully Poles will realize he saved them from nothing, but was just a filthy traitor.
Bring him around :-)
Forgive Pinochet and Jaruzewlski. They're old men, never going to regain power. Heroes to no one.
Jaruzewlski could have called in the Russians. Let him off the hook for that one.
OK, but first he must recognize his sins.
Yuri Andropov told Jaruzelski to his face the Soviets would not invade Poland, even if it resulted in Solidarity gaining power.
Jaruzelski deceived the military into believing the imposition of Martial Law would save Poland from Soviet invasion.
It's time to avenge the murders of Father Popieluszko and the Wujek miners.
Maybe Jaruzelski did not trust Andropov?
The Soviets were having troubles in Afghanistan, and remember there was a new sheriff in town, Ronald Reagan.
In fact, Jaruzelski BEGGED the Soviets to back him up, if the Polish military could not control the situation.
No two ways about it, Jaruzelski was a traitor.
The new government is bringing sunlight into dark places. Publishing the Warsaw Pact plans was a revelation, and whether or not a trial will result in jail time, it will settle Jaruzelski's place in the history books.
He comes from a honorable, patriotic family. His grandfather was January Uprising insurgent (1863), sent to Siberia by Russian czar. Could you believe he also was sent to Siberia in 1941 with his father, mother and sister after trying to hide from Red Army in Lithuania? His father died there. Last thing before he died was enlisting his son into Anders's Army that later fought in Italy in Monte Cassino battle. Soviet authorities didn't accept the request. How he could then become a Soviet spy and commie agent washing his brain out is still a mystery to me. Tragic, treacherous figure denying his faults to this very day.
Maby he should be exiled to Russia, to hang out with his Friend, Vladimir.
Good news! And may it start with this, and continue to the ends of the earth, until each and every Communist criminal is outed and punished! And I DO mean, to the ENDS OF THE EARTH!
No.
And don't you dare lump Pinochet in with him. Totally different scenario. Totally different ..
I am one of these people who think this whole thing should just be put to bed, even though I have thought Jarezulski was dirty bum. However, he may have a point about staving off a Soviet invasion, although the Pope's letter and involvement mattered more.
Andropov is a liar. They were amazzing troops on the border.
What mattered more was the Soviets getting bogged down in Afghanistan and Ronald Reagan. As I said before, we now know that Jaruzelski was told point blank that the Soviets would not back him up.
You know what, after thinking about it, hang this bum.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.