Greek prisons end hunger strike

2008-11-21 16:05

Athens - Prisoners in Greece have ended a two-week hunger strike called to protest chronic overcrowding after the government took steps to meet their complaints, the justice ministry said on Friday.

"The strike has ended, the prisoners are taking meals again," ministry spokesperson Haris Nikolakakis told AFP.

The ministry on Thursday submitted draft legislation to parliament which it said would enable 5 500 prisoners to be freed by April 2009.

The legislation reforms the system of reduction of sentences and reduces the maximum length of preventive detention.

Long-term proposals include alternative sentences for drug addicts.

A committee of inmates at Korydallos prison, one of Greece's largest, a few hours later said the hunger strike would end in response to the measures which they said were "a first step" to meeting their demands.

"The inmates view this legislation as a first step ... which does not solve our basic problems," the inmates said in a statement.

"We expect the justice minister's announcements on improving prison conditions ... to become law within the next three months," they said.

The protest originally began on November 3 with thousands of inmates rejecting scheduled prison meals. It turned into a full-blown hunger strike on November 7 with the prisoners refusing all food.

The protest spread to 21 out of 24 prisons in Greece, the largest of its kind ever held in the country according to its organisers.

Earlier this week the Initiative for Prisoner Rights, a support group which helped organise the protest, said 8 000 prisoners were participating in the protest, including 5 500 who refused all food.

Justice ministry figures show that Greek prisons held more than 11 600 inmates in July this year, against an official capacity of 7 543. Prisoners themselves say the actual number is around 14 000.

The government has pledged to open three new prisons in 2009.

- AFP