Poland convicts may build sports stadiums

A Polish government minister has come up with a plan to employ convicts to build stadiums for the European soccer championships in 2012.

Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Cwiakalski said employing convicts would temporarily solve the issue of Polish overcrowded prisons and would provide cheap labor force needed to build six stadiums for the Euro 2012 soccer championships, Polish Radio reported Wednesday.

There are some 58,000 convicted people waiting for a free place in jails to begin serving their time, the radio said.

The idea seems attractive as Poland is also suffering of a shortage of construction workers, who in thousands have left in search for better-paying jobs in Western Europe since the country joined the European Union in 2004.

Cwiakalski ruled out sending murderers or pedophilia-related convicts to building sites, adding he had in mind only those convicted for minor crimes.

Source: upi.com

Poland's Sawrymowicz wins gold medal at swimming worlds

Poland's Mateusz Sawrymowicz won the men's 1,500 metres freestyle final at the world championships in Melbourne on Sunday, the Polish PAP news agency reported.

Sawrymowicz broke the European record.

Sawrymowicz, 19, took the lead after 500 metres and surged clear to win the longest race on the programme in 14 minutes 45.94 seconds.

Russia's Yuri Prilukov, the European champion, finished second in 14:47.29 after leading for the first 500 and Britain's Commonwealth champion David Davies was third in 14.51.21.

During the world championships Poland won four medals (one gold, two silver and one bronze).

Source:english.people.com.cn