A military court in Warsaw has issued an arrest warrant for Stefan Michnik, half-brother of the editor-in-chief of Gazeta Wyborcza, for Stalinist era crimes during the 1950s.

The arrest warrant was issued on request of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), which has, since 2007, been considering asking for the extradition of Michnik, currently resident in Sweden.

Michnik is accused of nine crimes relating to issuing death sentences, while working as a judge, against anti-communist activists from 1951 to 1953. He is also suspected of illegally extending sentences of political prisoners, for which he may face up to ten years in prison.

The 80 year-old half-brother of Adam Michnik, left Poland in 1969 after the communist initiated anti-Semitic purges from the party the pervious year. After being refused a visa to the US, he finally settled in Sweden. Stefan M. claims that by arresting him, IPN wants to harm the reputation of his half-brother Adam.

The Michnik family was a divided one, politically, however. Adam emerged as a leading opposition activist in the 1960s, culminating in his arrest and imprisonment in 1968 for his part in the protests against communist censorship – which led to street protests and a brutal crackdown by communist militia. Adam Michnik went on to form the Worker’s Defence Committee (KOR) in 1976 and later the Solidarity trade union. (pg/mg)