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20 Nov 2003 16:43:28 GMT

Hunger strikers held in Greece 'close to death'

By Karolos Grohmann

ATHENS, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Five jailed anti-globalisation demonstrators on hunger strike since late September are edging closer to death, one of their lawyers told Reuters on Thursday.

The five -- two Spaniards, a Briton, a Syrian and a Greek -- were among seven protestors arrested in riots on the sidelines of an EU summit in northern Greece in June and charged with crimes including possession of explosives and weapons.

The group were jailed pending a trial but a court date has yet to be set and the group's lawyers have appealed to the Greek minister of justice for their release on bail until trial.

The hunger strikers, protesting their innocence, were transferred last week to Athens Korydallos top security prison from northern Greece after their condition deteriorated and they needed of medical care, officials said.

"Doctors visited them in jail today and their condition is right at the point of no return," said lawyer Vasso Karaindrou.

"Some of them have been on hunger strike for more than 60 days and problems have started with their livers and their eyesight," she said. "Several have been spitting blood."

Karaindrou said the Athens' Bar constitutional rights committee, of which she is a member, had filed a second release application. Officials said this week they were reviewing their case and a decision on the release request would be taken soon.

Their detention since June has sparked protests by anarchists and leftist across Greece and a series of minor bombing attacks in the capital in the past weeks.

Remarking on the swift release on bail of former Russian media mogul Vladimir Gusinsky after just four days following his arrest in the summer, Karaindrou said: "It is strange to see that the system in Greece has different standards."

"None of them have a record nor any other outstanding warrants," she added.

Earlier on Thursday a group of students took over the dean's office at Athens University to protest at the imprisonment while a march in central Athens was scheduled for later in the day.

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