Thousands of Romanian prisoners protested Sunday demanding improved conditions in overcrowded prisons after a bill was rejected last week by a committee of the Romanian Parliament [official website]. The bill would have granted early release to approximately 10,000 prisoners with less than five-year sentences. Nearly 6,000 inmates in 24 prisons across Romania refused food, set fire to sheets or banged on doors and windows, calling for better conditions. In many of the country's jails, prisoners have to share beds and are not given exercise privileges because the low number of available guards cannot monitor those activities.
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