martial law, 1981: photo - solidarnosc.gov.pl
"We expect that the police will ensure security for all those involved in peaceful assembly, and others near the route of the march, in a professional and apolitical manner,” chairman of the Law and Justice party Mariusz Błaszczak and deputy of the parliamentary affairs committee, Jaroslaw Zielinski write in a letter to Interior Minister Jacek Cichocki.
Thursday's March of Freedom, Solidarity and Independence, organised by Law and Justice – though far- right groups are also expected to take part – comes after demonstrations on Polish Independence Day on 11 November, which descended into clashes between police and nationalists.
Nationalists, with some backing from Law and Justice, claimed that police were heavy handed and selective in the 176 arrests that were made.
A former member of Law and Justice and one of the organisers of the nationalist march on 11 November, Artur Zawisza, claimed that there were “dozens of photographs” showing “masked undercover officers” allowed into ranks of police officers, from which they emerged, throwing flares and becoming violent.
“People in balaclavas were allowed into the ranks of the police, where they used violence against them, and then disappeared [behind their lines],” Zawisza told the TVN 24 news station.
Police Inspector Mariusz Sokolowski dismissed the claim, however, adding that the masked police officers, which could be seen moving around the area before and during the march, were from “anti-terrorist units” who had to maintain anonymity.
Interior Ministry spokeswoman Malgorzata Wozniak responded to the insinuation that police act on behalf of Law and Justice's political opponents on Wednesday by telling the PAP news agency that “the police always work in an apolitical and professional manner”.
The March of Freedom, Solidarity and Independence will begin at 18.00 CET, and will march from the centre of Warsaw to the Prime Minister's Office.
Martial Law was declared on the morning of 13 December 1981 by General Jaruzelski, in response to the growing power and demands of the Solidarity trade union.
Thousands were arrested and several dozen killed in the resulting clampdown, which formally ended in July 1983. (pg)