A Polish appeals court has ordered the resumption of the trial ofcommunist-era leader Wojciech Jaruzelski, charged with imposing martiallaw in 1981 as part of a deadly crackdown on pro-democracy activists.
TheWarsaw appeals court Monday overturned a lower court order suspendingthe trial while prosecutors gather more evidence. The May 14 rulingincluded orders for interviews with former British Prime MinisterMargaret 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.
Prosecutorslast year formally charged the 84-year-old General Jaruzelski and otherformer government officials with "communist crimes" for the martial lawdeclaration against the Solidarity labor movement. Prosecutors say thecrackdown, in which more than 100 people were killed, violated Polishlaw.
The general has said he declared martial law to avoid apotential bloodbath that was expected if Soviet troops had intervenedto crush Polish dissent.
Legal proceedings against the generalhave stalled repeatedly in the past decade, as courts dropped chargesagainst him linked to the crackdown.