Poles Told of Foiled ’83 Plot to Kill Pope

A suspended secret police general, testifying Wednesday in the trial of four subordinates charged with killing a pro-Solidarity priest, said his agents foiled a plot to kill Pope John Paul II during the pontiff’s 1983 visit to Poland.

Warsaw officials immediately denied that there was a plot to assassinate the Polish-born pontiff.

In defending the credibility of his department, Gen. Zenon Platek--the Interior Ministry officer who was in charge of the secret policemen accused in the Oct. 19 kidnap-murder of Father Jerzy Popieluszko--said his officers made several arrests and confiscated weapons and explosives during the Pope’s June, 1983, visit.

“This information is being disclosed for the first time today,” Platek said. “There was a real chance of an assassination attempt on the Pope. We took special steps and arrested several people in possession of explosives and automatic weapons.”

Platek, 58, declined to say how many people were arrested.

Polish government spokesman Jerzy Urban issued a statement later Wednesday disputing the general’s assertions.

Austrian With Rifle “There were no arrests or investigations carried out on armed groups or individuals before or during the Pope’s visit. The only incident concerned an Austrian who was turned back at the Polish border when he was found to be in possession of a high-precision rifle,” Urban said.

Capt. Grzegorz Piotrowski, 32, who admits kidnaping the priest but denies charges of murder, is accused with Lts. Waldemar Chmielewski and Leszek Pekala of abducting, beating and killing Popieluszko and then dumping his body in a reservoir on the Vistula River near Torun. The body was retrieved 11 days later.

Secret police Col. Adam Pietruszka is charged with aiding and abetting his subordinates and has pleaded innocent. All four face possible death sentences.

Asked about a possible motive for the priest’s murder, Platek told a packed courtroom that he could not understand how four of his subordinates got involved in Popieluszko’s murder.

“I asked myself this question many, many times,” he said. “This action was completely contrary to the law and all Interior Ministry regulations--but it’s not I who will give the verdict.”

Platek was suspended from duty but has not been charged.

He said Archbishop Bronislaw Dombrowski assured him two days before Popieluszko’s murder that the outspoken supporter of the banned Solidarity trade union would be sent abroad.