20 Farah prisoners go on hunger strike

FARAH (PAN went on hunger strike in Farah prison, insisting their names were among beneficiaries of a recent presidential decree.

Col. Abdul Qayyum Azimi, the jail superintendent, told Pajhwok Afghan News on Sunday the prisoners claimed they had been freed despite the decree issued on the occasion of Eidul Adha.

In line with Karzai’s orders, Azimi said, around 23 prisoners had been released and sentences of 102 others remitted. He has urged the Ministry of Interior and Supreme Court to look into the matter.

Shahla Abu Bakar, a provincial council member, met the protesting female prisoners, who have been sentenced to 20 and 17 years imprisonment.

She said the women had spent five years each in incarceration and half of their jail terms would be remitted under the presidential decree.

In August, around 182 prisoners observed a hunger strike for five consecutive days, an issue that was later amicably resolved by a delegation sent from Kabul.

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