An 88-year-old Oxford widow has dismissed as "political" plans to arrest her on charges she sent a war hero to his death.

A Polish military court has issued a European arrest warrant for Helena Wolinska, who lives in Bardwell Road, North Oxford, after previous attempts to extradite her failed.

Mrs Wolinska is alleged to have masterminded the false arrest of a Polish war hero in a show trial during the country's Stalinist era after the Second World War. She is said to have fabricated evidence against General Emil Fieldorf which led to his execution.

Army leader General Fieldorf refused to cooperate with the secret service of the new communist regime after the war ended.

Mrs Wolinska is accused of inventing charges that he killed Soviet soldiers and anti-Nazi fighters from Poland's Communist underground.

He was executed in 1953.

Mrs Wolinska is also accused that as a military prosecutor, she arranged for the wrongful arrest of 24 others.

If convicted of the charges, she faces 10 years in prison.

Speaking from her home, Mrs Wolinska said: "I will not speak about this because it is not a criminal case- it is a political one. I do not know why the whole business is coming up again. This is an old case. It is 10 years old."

An extradition request made by the Polish government in 2000, before the country joined the EU, was turned down by the UK.

But now the country is part of the EU, permission to extradite an individual is not required and a court in Warsaw issued the warrant for Mrs Wolinska.

Responsibility for making the arrest lies with the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca). A spokesman said: "We never confirm details of arrest warrants."

The Metropolitan Police and the Home Office both said the warrant was a matter for Soca and, as such, they could not comment.

Mrs Wolinska has lived in the UK since 1972. Her husband, Wlodzimierz Brus, a Fellow at Wolfson College, died in August.