Group warns of prisoner hunger strike

A prisoners' rights group says inmates at 20 Greek prisons are set to begin a hunger strike in the hopes of changing judiciary conditions.

Initiative for Prisoners' Rights representatives say the hunger strike, which is expected to begin next week, represents the prisoners' attempts to ease prison overcrowding and minimize pretrial detention periods, Kathimerini said Friday.

Initiative official Panos Lambrou said Thursday that while prisoners recognize all of their demands will likely go unanswered, the hunger strike could potentially facilitate positive change.

"We are not suffering under the delusion that the ministry will accept all our demands -- our goal is one small victory to bring a breath of fresh air into this oppressive situation," Lambrou said of the strike scheduled to being next Monday and go into full effect next Saturday.

Kathimerini said Greek jails designed to only hold little more than 7,500 inmates are home to nearly 11,000 prisoners. Such figures would make Greece's prisons the most overcrowded detention sites in all of Europe, the Greek newspaper said.