Poland punishes former communist leaders by cutting pensions
Poland's last communist leader and thousands of former secret service agents have had their pensions cut as part of a campaign to punish those who imposed the authoritarian regime upon the country.
By Matthew Day in Warsaw
Published: 6:00AM GMT 05 Jan 2010
From the start of the year, General Wojciech Jaruzelski will see his pension slashed following widespread anger in Poland that he and others involved in the suppression of dissidents and the democratic movement enjoyed lavish pensions.
The general, along with colleagues from the National Salvation Council, the body that crushed the Solidarity movement in 1981 through the imposition of martial law, have until now enjoyed pensions worth £1,833 a month.
But from January they will receive only £900, although some have said this, too, is excessive, given that a retired doctor can take home as little as £434 a month.
About 40,000 men and women who worked for the communist security apparatus until the collapse of the one-party state in 1989 will see cuts to their pensions, depending on how long they served and what their rank was when they retired.
The law, which aims to punish those who it considers "maintained an inhumane system of power", reflects a growing will in Poland to confront the wrongs of the past and punish the guilty.
Poland's negotiated transition from communism to democracy in 1989, and the furious nation-building that followed, meant that many of the sins of communism were ignored for the sake of national unity.
But some MPs from the Democratic Left Alliance, the country's reconstituted Communist Party, have vowed to take the pension law to the constitutional court, arguing that it imposes collective guilt by failing to link individuals to a specific crime.
Poland's last communist leader and thousands of former secret service agents have had their pensions cut as part of a campaign to punish those who imposed the authoritarian regime upon the country.
By Matthew Day in Warsaw
Published: 6:00AM GMT 05 Jan 2010
From the start of the year, General Wojciech Jaruzelski will see his pension slashed following widespread anger in Poland that he and others involved in the suppression of dissidents and the democratic movement enjoyed lavish pensions.
The general, along with colleagues from the National Salvation Council, the body that crushed the Solidarity movement in 1981 through the imposition of martial law, have until now enjoyed pensions worth £1,833 a month.
But from January they will receive only £900, although some have said this, too, is excessive, given that a retired doctor can take home as little as £434 a month.
About 40,000 men and women who worked for the communist security apparatus until the collapse of the one-party state in 1989 will see cuts to their pensions, depending on how long they served and what their rank was when they retired.
The law, which aims to punish those who it considers "maintained an inhumane system of power", reflects a growing will in Poland to confront the wrongs of the past and punish the guilty.
Poland's negotiated transition from communism to democracy in 1989, and the furious nation-building that followed, meant that many of the sins of communism were ignored for the sake of national unity.
But some MPs from the Democratic Left Alliance, the country's reconstituted Communist Party, have vowed to take the pension law to the constitutional court, arguing that it imposes collective guilt by failing to link individuals to a specific crime.
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