Georgia: women-prisoners to resume their hunger strike on June 28

In Georgia, on June 28, the women kept at the Tbilisi corrective establishment for women and minors No. 5 are going to renew their hunger strike, which had been interrupted because of the pressure exerted by the prison administration.

"The women stopped their hunger strike because of the pressure on them. None of their requirements was ever fulfilled," said Nana Kakabadze, chair of the NGO "Former Political Prisoners for Human Rights".

According to Mr Kakabadze, who is quoted by the "News-Georgia", the pressure on the prisoners was exerted by the administration of the prison through the so-called "supervising" inmates who have certain "position" in the prison.

Ms Kakabadze has also informed that some time earlier, Elias the Second, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, had a meeting with Minister of Justice Nikoloz Gvaramiya and other power representatives. He called the hunger-strikers to stop their actions, and the authorities - to solve the prisoners' problems within ten days. However, the inmates would not believe that the authorities would ever hear the words of the Patriarch, and decided to start on June 22 a dry hunger strike; however, they had to suspend it because of the pressure.

According to Nana Kakabadze, in total, in the period of June 8-18, 205 women had taken part in the hunger strike.