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Jaruzelski to stand trial for alleged communist crimes

General Wojciech Jaruzelski, the former communist leader of Poland, is to stand trial for "communist crimes" 25 years after he tried to crush the Solidarity trade union, declared a "state of war" in Poland and jailed tens of thousands of people.

The 82-year-old former military officer, who headed the Polish communist party and served as defense minister, prime minister and president, has always argued that his decision to impose martial law on Poland in December 1981, 18 months after the rise of Solidarity sent tremors through the Soviet bloc, was the lesser of two evils -- aimed at preventing the greater despair that could have followed a Red Army invasion of Poland.

Prosecutors filed charges against Jaruzelski and several others on Friday, arguing that his crimes also violated Poland's communist constitution.

He could face 11 years in jail if found guilty. "We're expecting the trial to start quite soon," an official at the institute said. "It's a political issue, of course."

Poland is run by twin brothers, Lech and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, one the president, the other leader of the governing party, and both conservative anti-communists jailed under martial law. They came to power last year determined to purge the Polish establishment of communist elements and have long campaigned for a process of "decommunisation" parallel to the de-nazification of Germany after the war.

Jaruzelski has apologized for declaring martial law, as well as for his role, as military chief, in the Soviet invasion of Czecho-slovakia in 1968. But he has always said he did what he thought was best at the time, only to learn later that his acts may have been "shameful."

The indictment filed on Friday charged Jaruzelski with being the head of an "organized criminal group of a military nature, which aimed to perpetrate crimes that consisted of the deprivation of freedom through internment" and violating "workers' rights."

Jaruzelski said yesterday that millions of Poles supported his decision to impose martial law. He denounced the move to put him on trial as a "moral court."
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