14:53, 8 July 2005

Hunger strike in prison denied

Vladimir Parkhomenko, a prosecutor responsible for the observation of laws in penitentiary establishments in the Rostov district, denied on Friday the information disseminated by some media about a hunger strike by prisoners in the Kamensk-Shakhtinskii labour camp.

"Nothing has occurred in the Kamensk-Shakhtinskii labour camp. I don't understand where this information comes from," Parkhomenko told Interfax Yug.

He says he visited the labour camp to find out what was going on there.

"I studied the situation at the scene. I went round all units, including the TB one where two prisoners self harmed a month ago. I checked how prisoners eat at the canteen and talked to each prisoner. There are no hunger strikers, nor did they file complaints about the living conditions," says Parkhomenko.

Prisoners dissatisfied