The Penalization of the Participants of the March 1968 Events by Criminal-Administrative Colleges Cover Image

Karanie uczestników wydarzeń marcowych z 1968 r. przez kolegia karno-administracyjne
The Penalization of the Participants of the March 1968 Events by Criminal-Administrative Colleges

Author(s): Marcin Łysko
Subject(s): History, History of Law, Recent History (1900 till today)
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: kolegia karno-administracyjne; wydarzenia marcowe; Polska Ludowa; Ministerstwo Spraw Wewnętrznych ; Boards adjudicating petty offences; March events; Polish People’s Republic; Ministry of Home Affairs

Summary/Abstract: In March 1968, in the streets of Warsaw, Polish students protested against the communist authorities’ restriction of freedom of cultural and artistic activity. Demonstrations taking place during the so-called March events were brutally pacified by the militia, and participants in the events were charged with breach of the peace. When considering cases of their offenses, the penal-administrative colleges imposed severe basic arrest penalties and high fines, which were usually immediately convertible into alternative arrest. The penalties isolating the offender from society were imposed in an accelerated procedure without any guarantee of defence of the rights of the accused. This practice of the colleges’ severe punishment of participants in social protests, which was initiated during the March events of 1968, would be repeated during successive political crises of the 1970s and 1980s.

  • Issue Year: 13/2020
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 61-81
  • Page Count: 21
  • Language: Polish