Police on Sunday arrested 101 protestors commemorating victims of a long-running hunger strike against controversial new jails in Istanbul, the Anatolia news agency reported.
Riot police moved in to disperse the group with truncheons and tear gas when the protestors wanted to make a statement in the Beyoglu district, in the European quarter of Istanbul.
Earlier reports had put the number of detainees at around 50 people. Anatolia said that seven of the protestors needed medical treatment for minor injuries they sustained during the scuffles with police.
Hundreds of mainly left-wing inmates had launched a hunger strike back in October 2000 against the introduction of new maximum-security prisons in which cells for three people at most replaced large dormitories for dozens of prisoners.
The strike, in which the protestors have been fasting on a rotating basis, has thus far claimed 57 lives, including both prisoners and outside supporters of the movement. Backed by rights groups, the strikers say the new jails leave them socially isolated and more vulnerable to torture and maltreatment. However, the government, has categorically ruled out a return to the dormitory system, arguing that it was the central reason behind frequent riots and hostage-taking incidents in the country's unruly prisons. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
