The Supreme Court is reviewing an appeal for cassation issued by members of the communist-era riot police involved in the pacification of the Wujek coal mine in December 1981.
Over two decades after the incident, fifteen of them were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 3,5 to 6 years for their part in the killings. The counsel for the defence has filed a cassation appeal on account of violating the presumption of innocence which the accused are entitled to. They also claim the court failed to judge any doubts and inconclusive evidence in favour of the defendants, and it wrongly categorized their acts.
Several of the convicts are serving their sentences in prison, yet some are still waiting for the imposition of the penalty.
The pacification of the Wujek coal mine was carried out in response to a strike initiated following the imposition of martial law in 1981. Nine miners were killed and 21 were injured in the operation.