WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s president vetoed a bill Friday that would have made it possible for authorities to strip communist-era officers of their ranks. Andrzej Duda argued that bill was not fair because it would not have allowed those deprived of their ranks, some now dead, to defend themselves. The ruling party, Law and Justice, which has made punishing former communists a keystone of its program, was “surprised and disappointed,” the party spokeswoman Beata Mazurek said. Supporters viewed the legislation as an act of justice, but opponents described it as vengeful. It would also have affected Poland’s only cosmonaut, Gen. Miroslaw Hermaszewski, 76 — something many people found objectionable.

Source: National Post March 30, 2018 10:05 UTC