OSIJEK: EIGHT SERB PRISONERS GO ON HUNGER STRIKE

OSIJEK, April 25 (Hina) - Croatia's Deputy Justice Minister Vjekoslav Jazbec on Tuesday confirmed in an interview with Hina that eight Serb inmates at the Osijek County Prison were on hunger strike. Five prisoners, suspected of war crimes, have been refusing prison food since April 20, and another three, suspected of classic criminal acts, have joined them later. The prisoners said they were showing solidarity with 27 Serb prisoners at the Lepoglava penitentiary, who are also on a hunger strike. Lepoglava prisoners have been on hunger strike since April 17 due to the, as they claim, wrong application of the Amnesty Act and the Agreement on Exchange, which were signed by Croatia's former foreign minister Mate Granic and his Yugoslav counterpart Vladislav Jovanovic. The prisoners have requested that the Amnesty Act be applied in those cases where it is possible and that other prisoners be tried before the war crimes tribunal in The Hague. "Up to date, the condition of persons who are on hunger strike has not been impaired and they are under permanent control by a doctors' team," Jazbec said. (hina) mm rml