Przebieg śledztwa i procesu liderów Konfederacji Polski Niepodległej w latach 1980–1982
Przebieg śledztwa i procesu liderów Konfederacji Polski Niepodległej w latach 1980–1982

Summary/Abstract: The article presents the course of the investigation and trial of the leaders of the Confederation of Independent Poland. Proceedings against them were held in 1980–1982, first before the District Court in Warsaw, and after the imposition of martial law, before the Court of the Warsaw Military District. Basing on archival materials, a political process quite unique for the realities of the Polish People’s Republic has been described. The arrest of Leszek Moczulski on 23 September 1980, and in the following weeks the arrest of many members of the Confederation of Independent Poland leadership, initiated a wave of repressions against the Confederation. When the mass social movement of “Solidarity” was established, the communist authorities decided to attack the Confederation so that it would not influence the activities of the union. The leadership in Moscow, among others, pressed for the immediate pacification of the “counter-revolutionary forces” in the Polish People’s Republic, and encouraged the Polish leadership to quickly crack down on the Confederation. The authorities of the Polish People’s Republic also considered bringing members of the Committee for Social Self-Defense “KOR” to trial, but for fear of mass protests, ultimately had to resign. In the case of the Confederation of Independent Poland, it was decided that the protests would be too insignificant for a political trial to take place. The article describes how the leaders of the Congress defended themselves in the courtroom and how they easily dismissed allegations based on questionable evidence. In addition, the article also describes not only domestic but also foreign echoes of the process. All in all, the text presents the process of autonomisation of the judiciary from the party pressure in the era of the “Solidarity” revolution.

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