Wojciech Jaruzelski, Poland's last communist leader, dies aged 90

Hospital spokesman confirms death of former general, who had been in ill health for some time

General Wojciech Jaruzelski obituary
Wojciech Jaruzelski
Wojciech Jaruzelski in Paris in 2009. Poland's last communist leader has died aged 90 after a long illness. Photograph: Francois Mori/AP

Poland's last communist leader, General Wojciech Jaruzelski, has died at a military hospital where he was being treated after a stroke, a hospital spokesman said.

The 90-year-old died on Sunday just days before Poland marked 25 years since the parliamentary election in which Poles voted against the country's communist rulers and in support of the Solidarity freedom movement that formed Poland's first democratic government in over four decades.

Jaruzelski suffered a stroke this month and had been previously treated for cancer at the hospital.

On 13 December 1981, Jaruzelski imposed martial law in Poland against the wishes of the pro-democratic Solidarity union that grew into the nationwide movement that eventually ousted him.

Jaruzelski is survived by his wife, Barbara, and a daughter, Monika. Funeral arrangements were not immediately known.

General Wojciech Jaruzelski obituary