Polish court upholds convictions in '81 crackdown

WARSAW — In a nationally televised ruling, a Polish appeals court gave the final word Tuesday on the fate of 14 police officers involved in a deadly communist crackdown on the Solidarity movement in 1981 — the convictions stand, and most of the sentences will be increased. The ruling, which cannot be appealed, closes the book on "events that had a tragic result, events that caused deaths, the crippling of some victims and suffering for the victims and their loved ones," said presiding Judge Waldemar Szmidt in the nationally televised ruling. "Glory to those who fell, because they fell in the right cause. Punishment for those whose guilt could be proven beyond doubt," he said. The ruling from the court in the southern mining hub of Katowice ends a 15-year case that included three trials of the former police officers. A... [read full story]