Three former communist secret service agents have been accused of planning to poison Anna Walentynowicz, a leading Solidarity activist during the 1980 Gdansk shipyard strikes.

If found guilty the men, Tadeusz G., Marek K. i Wiesław S.,face up to five years in prison.

The charges, brought in the district court in Radom, are being brought by the Institute of National Remembrance, which looks into communist and Nazi era crime in Poland.

In October 1981 - two months before the declaration of martial law - the agents are accused of wanting to poison Walentynowicz - whose sacking from the Gdansk shipyard, along with Lech Walesa was one of the catalysts for the August strikes - with furosemidum, which in high doses can even cause death.

The men plead not guilty to charges of endangering life and exceeding powers as state agents.

Anna Walentynowicz - who became an arch enemy of Lech Walesa in the 1990s - died in the Smolensk air crash on April 10 this year.

Poland is celebrating the 30 year anniversary of the singing of the August Agreements this weekend, which legalised the Solidarity trade union, the first in the communist bloc. (pg)

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