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Former PM denies Polish massacre

Jaruzelski
Jaruzelski denies any blame for the deaths  


WARSAW, Poland -- More than 30 years after dozens of Polish shipyard workers were gunned down, the massacre trial of a former prime minister has reopened.

General Wojciech Jaruzelski, 77, has maintained he did not order the armed forces to fire on the protesting workers on December 17, 1970, killing 44 and injuring more than 1000.

He and nine co-defendants could get 25 years if convicted.

He arrived at Warsaw's Provincial Court on Tuesday wearing his trademark dark glasses and walking with a cane.

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Profile of Jaruzelski
 

He spoke only when the judge asked whether he agreed with a motion by his lawyers to reject the indictment.

The workers had been protesting about price increases in the Baltic coast cities of Gdynia, Gdansk, Szczecin and Elblag.

Jaruzelski was defence minister at the time of the shooting.

He was Poland's leader from 1981, when he imposed martial law to crack down on the Solidarity movement that eventually toppled communist rule, until 1989, the year communist rule was toppled.

A previous effort to try him in Gdansk in 1996 collapsed after he and several others were excluded for health reasons.

In 1999, Poland's Supreme Court ordered a new trial and moved it to Warsaw, where Jaruzelski lives and has a state-financed office.

Jaruzelski reportedly suffers from back and kidney problems, along with high blood pressure. He frequently wears dark glasses, even indoors, because of a condition that makes his eyes sensitive to light.

Doctors are expected to keep a close watch on the retired general, and the court has agreed to limit hearings to three or four hours.

With hundreds of possible witnesses, the trial is expected to last at least a year.

The next session is scheduled for Thursday afternoon, when the court will rule on various legal motions.

Among the audience in the packed courtroom Tuesday were army veterans who turned out to support the old general.

Poland has had a difficult time bringing top officials to trial for communist-era crimes as evidence has often been difficult to compile, and many have been able to avoid trials for health reasons.







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