Warsaw - Former Polish leader General Wojciech Jaruzelski's plea against charges of communist-era crimes was postponed Thursday when another elderly defendant failed to show at the trial.

Jaruzelski, 85, has reportedly prepared a 200-page defence he plans to read out in the Warsaw court, the stage for Poland's highest-profile effort to bring Soviet-era leaders to justice.

Seven other former communist officials are charged along with Jaruzelski. One of them, former general Tadeusz Tuczapski, was absent Thursday for health reasons, prompting the court to adjourn until October 2 after a brief session.

Prosecutors allege that Jaruzelski, now in frail health, led a "criminal armed organization" when he and other leaders created an emergency ruling body during the martial law crackdown, which aimed to break the Solidarity trade union.

The defendants face up to 10 years in jail if found guilty. They claim martial law was necessary to avoid the threat of a Soviet invasion, and that the decision saved Poland from a national catastrophe.

No ex-communist Polish leaders have been convicted of crimes since the 1981 crackdown, when up to 100 people died and thousands of Solidarity activists and other dissidents were jailed.

Nearly three decades after martial law, Jaruzelski's trial still raised emotions. Thursday's courtroom included both his supporters, who claim Jaruzelski was not to blame for martial law, and his opponents who say justice has been too long delayed.

A Polish court in June quashed earlier rulings that had called for new evidence in Jaruzelski's trial, including calls for additional documents from Russian archives and interviews with leaders, including former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev.

Jaruzelski was tried in 2001 for a 1970 massacre in the Gdansk shipyards, but the proceedings petered out after he claimed health problems.

Former solidarity leader Lech Walesa testified in July in another trial of Polish communist-era chiefs accused of ordering the massacre.

Jaruzelski was defence minister when security forces killed 44 shipyard workers on the Baltic coast during protests over rising food prices.

Walesa shook the former general's hand when the two faced each other in court in July.

"He's guilty in some way, but political factors counted back then," Walesa said.

Despite imposing martial law, Jaruzelski was forced to negotiate with Solidarity after strikes broke out nationwide. He resigned as Poland's leader and was replaced by Walesa, who became Poland's president in the country's first democratic elections in 1990. (dpa)