Jawzjan prison Inmates go on hunger strike

SHIBERGHAN (Pajhwok): Dozens of prisoners in Jawzjan prison have been on hunger strike for 48 hours, claiming a delay by the authorities in deciding their cases, officials said on Thursday.

The inmates, mostly from Sar-i-Pul province, alleged the attorney general’s office had asked them for money in return for remitting their jail terms.

The inmates had been on hunger strike for the past two days and some of them had even their lips sewn. Abdul Qahar, a protesting inmate, complained the judicial organs did not pay attention to their cases. He alleged for each case, the attorney general’s office had sought 15,000 afs.

But Halim Jan Halim, an official of the appellant court in Sar-i-Pul province, rejected the allegation and said several prosecutors worked on each case and asking for bribe was impossible.

“The strike is being led by Mullah and is in prison right now,” he added.

Mullah Ziauddin, however, said 300 people had been on strike and 20 of them had their lips sewn. He added health condition of six inmates was critical.

“If they don’t listen to our complaints, we have no choice but to dig up our own graves here and bury ourselves,” Ziauddin warned.

Brig. Gen. Mohammad Aziz, the prison superintendent, said he had referred the inmates’ grievances to the authorities in both Sar-i-Pul and Jawzjan provinces. Some 500 inmates, including 300 from Sar-i-Pul, are being held in the prison.

hg/mud