Walesa blames Soviet system for 1970 deaths

Images (showing 1 of 2 photos)

WARSAW — Testifying at the trial of Poland's last Communist leader, Former Polish President Lech Walesa suggested Wednesday that the Soviet system was responsible for the killing of protesting shipyard workers in 1970, rather than individuals.

Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski, 85, is accused of ordering soldiers to fire at shipyard workers protesting food-price increases on Dec. 17, 1970, when he was defense minister. At least 44 people were killed in the cities of Gdynia, Gdansk, Szczecin and Elblag.

Jaruzelski and five other communist-era officials could face life in prison if convicted in the long-running trial on charges of giving orders that resulted in deaths. All deny the charges.

Walesa, a protest leader at the Gdansk shipyard in 1970, appeared to cast a lenient light on Jaruzelski's role as a top official in Poland, then a Soviet satellite.

"We are passing judgment on the sword, but not on the hand or the head," Walesa told the Warsaw regional court.

"We must say here that that system was based on dependence, that the decisions were not taken here, that we were dependent then," he added, without elaborating.

Walesa said he blamed "not the people but rather the system." Addressing his own part in the protests, he said that he had tried to keep the crowds under control.

Walesa, who in the early 1980s founded the Solidarity union and pro-democracy movement, was watched from the dock by a stone-faced Jaruzelski, wearing his trademark dark glasses.

There appeared to be little personal animosity between the two men, who shook hands and talked in court during a brief recess in Walesa's testimony.

Jaruzelski was replaced as Poland's president by Walesa in 1990 after the country's first free election following the fall of communism.

Jaruzelski's lawyer, Zbigniew Baczynski, said Walesa's testimony offered a new view of what happened in 1970 and showed that "someone other than the generals was in control during the events." He did not elaborate.

It is unclear when the court might deliver a verdict in the trial, which began more than seven years ago but has been delayed repeatedly.

Back To Top