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The 1989 Polish prison riots refers to an outbreak of violence, which took place at four maximum-security prisons〔(The New York Times, At Least 3 Inmates are Dead in Riots at 4 Polish Prisons )〕 in northwestern Poland in late 1989. The riots were the result of political changes which had taken place in Poland in early and mid-1989 (see Polish Round Table Agreement, Polish legislative election, 1989). Inmates in several prisons hoped that collapse of the Communist system would result in the release of repeated offenders, due to an amnesty, but it did not happen. In the riots that ensued, seven people were killed, and hundreds were wounded.〔(Adam Zadworny, Mozecie mnie juz puscic, Gazeta Wyborcza, 2009-12-11 )〕 == Background == During the rise of Solidarity (Polish trade union) in 1980 and the ensuing government crackdown, in some prisoners, regular and political prisoners in Polish prisons started to cooperate. By mid-1989, political prisoners in Poland had been released, but prisons across the country were still filled with thousands of inmates sentenced by the Communist regime. At that time, prisons in Poland were filled with people found guilty of petty offenses, such as stealing a bicycle. It was the result of the so-called “May 1985 Bill”, which stated that all recidivists, regardless of the crime, had to be sent behind bars.〔 The bill caused overcrowding in cells, and conditions for inmates were very poor. When, as a result of the 1989 legislative election, several former political prisoners found themselves in the Sejm, those who remained behind bars hoped that general amnesty was imminent. The first disturbances in prisons began in the late summer of 1989, especially in northwestern Poland (in Nowogard, Czarne, and Goleniow). At first, the inmates demanded improvements in their living conditions and better pay for their work.〔 The Polish government met the requests of protesting prisoners, who in return demanded more, including the revoking of their sentences and amnesty.〔 In August 1989, inmates at Nowogard took over de facto control of the prison.〔〔 Their authority went so far that to take any prisoner for a trial at Szczecin court, a permission of the 47-member Protest Committee was needed.〔〔 The Committee was headed by 34-year-old thief Zbigniew O. (aka Orzech).〔 Orzech was in the prison system since he was 18 years old, with less than a year on the outside since then. Originally imprisoned for car theft and resisting arrest, he was involved in prison activism for better prisoner treatment; and once attempted suicide.〔 By fall of 1989, he was only months from being released again.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1989 Polish prison riots」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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