A Polish appeals court has ordered the resumption of the trial of
communist-era leader Wojciech Jaruzelski, charged with imposing martial
law in 1981 as part of a deadly crackdown on pro-democracy activists.
The
Warsaw appeals court Monday overturned a lower court order suspending
the trial while prosecutors gather more evidence. The May 14 ruling
included orders for interviews with former British Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher and former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.
In today's ruling, the court said evidence already gathered is sufficient. No new trial date has been announced.
Prosecutors
last year formally charged the 84-year-old General Jaruzelski and other
former government officials with "communist crimes" for the martial law
declaration against the Solidarity labor movement. Prosecutors say the
crackdown, in which more than 100 people were killed, violated Polish
law.
The general has said he declared martial law to avoid a
potential bloodbath that was expected if Soviet troops had intervened
to crush Polish dissent.
Legal proceedings against the general
have stalled repeatedly in the past decade, as courts dropped charges
against him linked to the crackdown.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
