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Former Polish Communist head critically ill in hospital

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WARSAW, February 20 (RIA Novosti) - Former Polish leader, Wojciech Jaruzelski, has been admitted to a military hospital in a serious condition, his wife said on Wednesday.

Jaruzelski's health deteriorated after he was again accused by Polish historians of committing crimes against the Polish people.

"It seems to me that he is unwilling to live any longer," Barabara Jaruzelska said, adding that her 84-year-old husband has pneumonia and cardiac problems.

As defense minister, Jaruzelski, was involved in the military campaign in Prague in 1968, and in the early 70s brutally suppressed strikes by Polish workers in major coastal cities across Poland.

He was widely criticized for imposing martial law in Poland on December 13, 1981, in an attempt to smother the growing Solidarity movement led by Lech Walesa. The move resulted in over 90 deaths across the country. In 1990 after Jaruzelski retired as Polish leader, Walesa succeeded him.

He faced charges for crimes committed during the Communist period, including murder, but in 1996, the Polish government dropped all formal charges against the ex-communist leader.

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