Jaruzelski was hospitalized March 11 with a high fever and a respiratory infection, local media reported last week.
Jaruzelski earlier this month cited bad health when he cancelled plans to attend a May beatification ceremony for the late Polish pope, John Paul II, in Rome. He was bedridden for a prolonged duration in December due to a lung infection and circulatory problems.
Jaruzelski imposed martial law in Communist Poland on December 13, 1981, in an effort to crack down on the Solidarity labour union.
He is a divisive figure in his country, with some considering him a traitor for ordering the crackdown, while others claim that martial law was necessary to avoid a possible Soviet invasion.
Jaruzelski is currently on trial for forming an “armed criminal organization,” which he allegedly used as head of the Polish military to seize power in 1981. Citing his health, he has not attended many of the court sessions.
Source: www.earthtimes.org
Photo: Andrzej Barabasz