10 August 2006
Britain is refusing to extradite a Jewish woman to her native Poland where she is to stand trial for her role as one of the harshest military prosecutors of the Communist era. The Polish government had requested the extradition of Helena Wolinska, 87, in 1999, according to Polish radio. Prosecutors want her to be tried for the arrest of 16 non-Communists, including a general of the Polish underground army from World War II who was executed. Several of Wolinska’s investigations resulted in the death penalty for accused enemies of the Communist regime. Wolinska fled to Britain after state-sponsored purges of Jews in the Communist Party in 1968. Britain refused to extradite her on humanitarian considerations. Wolinska says the case against her has an anti-Semitic nature. But prosecutors at Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance says she was aware that her victims were innocent and that she abused the law.
