ZAGREB, Nov 15 (Hina) - The number of prisoners in Lepoglavapenitentiary who are refusing food since Saturday has grown from 23 to26, the Justice Ministry said in a press release on Monday, addingthey were citizens of Serbia and
Montenegro convicted of war crimeswho were protesting because their requests to serve their sentences intheir country had not been processed.
ZAGREB, Nov 15 (Hina) - The number of prisoners in Lepoglava
penitentiary who are refusing food since Saturday has grown from 23 to 26, the
Justice Ministry said in a press release on Monday, adding they were citizens
of Serbia and Montenegro convicted of war crimes who were protesting because
their requests to serve their sentences in their country had not been
processed.The press release said 23 convicts refused lunch on Saturday, informing
the management in a note of the reasons for the protest.
Two of them started taking food yesterday and today, but in the meantime
five convicts who had not signed the note joined in the protest.
The press release said talks with the protesters revealed their act had
nothing to do with conditions at Lepoglava penitentiary.
In their note, the protesters, who are serving time for war crimes
against civilians and prisoners of war, mentioned the case of Mladen Mirkovic,
a Croat convicted in Montenegro for killing 12 people in a car crash who served
his sentence in Montenegro since 2002 but was recently handed over to Croatian
authorities.