Poland’s last communist leader charged over martial law

PROSECUTORS filed charges yesterday against Poland’s last communist leader, General Wojciech Jaruzelski, in connection with his imposition of martial law in 1981 as the Soviet -backed regime tried to crush the Solidarity pro-democracy movement.

The National Remembrance Institute, a state body that investigates communist era crimes, said in a statement it had charged Jaruzelski, 82, with violating the constitution for the crackdown that began on December 13, 1981 and led to the jailing of tens of thousands of people.

The move comes under the new government of the conservative Law and Justice party, which won parliamentary and presidential elections six months ago with pledges to purge former communists from public life.