Request for pardon via Internet highlights Poland's entrance into 21st century

A man from Slupsk wanted by the authorities for assault reportedly sent an electronic mail message to President Aleksander Kwasniewski, asking to be pardoned, an extremely unusual way of making such requests. The man was found guilty of assaulting his principle at the school he was attending at the time and subsequently sentenced to three and a half years in prison, a term temporarily deferred due to his claim to child support. When the time came to serve his sentence, however, he fled from the authorities. (Zycie, pp.1, 5) M.M.