Walesa Trial to Be Open, Poland Says
The Polish government said Tuesday that the public will be allowed to witness the slander trial of Solidarity founder Lech Walesa, who in turn plans to invite foreign observers to the “Wild East” to see the Polish legal system in action.
“The trial will be open,” government spokesman Jerzy Urban said at a weekly news conference.
Walesa was indicted on charges of slandering members of the national election commission by questioning official voter turnout figures for October’s parliamentary voting.
“The ‘Wild East’ is beginning to prevail here,” the union leader said Tuesday. It is even worse than the “Wild West” days in the United States, he added, because there “both sides had guns.” In Poland, citizens “are defenseless against petty harassment by authorities,” he said.
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