Life behind prison bars ...
NZPA Warsaw. The underground leaders of the suspended trade union Solidarity have asserted that an agent-provocateur instigated the seizure of the Polish Embassy in Berne. Switzerland. A communique that reached Western news correspondents yesterday said that the seizure was an attempt to discredit Solidarity and hide "the failure of the totalitarian system shown on August 31.” when crowds demonstrated in Polish cities in favour of independent trade unions. ; The communique was sent by Solidarity's provisional co-ordinating committee. The statement was dated September 6, the same day hostages were seized in the embassy. The communique was accompanied by an announcement that the committee held a secret meeting on September 5 to 7 to analyse the situation after the August 31 demonstrations. The committee concluded
that authorities deliberately provoked street fighting and “made Polish blood flow." Therefore, citizens should refrain from future protest demonstrations that were not co-ordinated with the committee or Solidarity's regional branches. Five demonstrations. were stopped in three cities. Some 381 people were injured in 34 provinces, according to the latest official figures. The committee urged Poles to honour the memory, of the August 31 dead "in peace and dignity" by observing a minute's silence on September 30 at noon by wearing mourning clothes, and by laying flowers on spots "where victims of martial law fell." Another committee announcement asserted that the recent decision to try members of the dissident social self-defence committee would “pave the way for other rigged trials" to eliminate Solidarity militants for many years under “false accusations."
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19820913.2.71.10
Bibliographic details
Press, 13 September 1982, Page 9
Word Count
256Life behind prison bars ... Press, 13 September 1982, Page 9
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Press. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Copyright in all Footrot Flats cartoons is owned by Diogenes Designs Ltd. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise these cartoons and make them available online as part of this digitised version of the Press. You can search, browse, and print Footrot Flats cartoons for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Diogenes Designs Ltd for any other use.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.