Party distances itself from Vietnamese “sweatshop” scandal

Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza had claimed on Monday that Maciej Polakowski, allegedly one of PJN's expert advisors, had maltreated a group of 14 Vietnamese employees at a fasctory in the city of Bydgoszcz, north west Poland.

However, speaking to Polish Radio on Monday, Pawel Kowal, leader of Poland Comes First, played down ties with Polakowski.

“This man is not an expert for PJN – I do not know him,” Kowal said.

“It's possible that there might have been some discussion during the electoral campaign, but I don't recall it personally,” he said.

Polakowski is being investigated by the prosecutor's office in Bydgoszcz over allegations that as the owner of a factory that makes luxury clothing, he grossly mistreated Vietnamese workers.

Some 14 employees apparently escaped through a factory window, after allegedly being ill-fed and beaten.

The Gazeta Wyborcza daily claims that investigators at the Bydgoszcz prosecutor's office had acknowledged unofficially that the employees were “treated like slaves.”

Maciej Polakowski admits to confiscating the Vietnamese citizens' passports, but denied mal-treating his employees.

Poland Comes First was founded in 2010, and was inititially a splinter of the conservative Law and Justice party.

However, the new grouping performed poorly during the general election of October 2011, gaining just 2.2 percent of the vote, which was below the 5 percent threshold needed to hold seats in parliament. (nh)