A total of 25 prisoners in Division 12 are not accepting their food in protest at having different conditions to other prisoners.

More prisoners had stopped accepting food as from yesterday at noon but they gave in to hunger later in the day or this morning.

Sources said this morning that Division 12 was one of three divisions which have been given conditions which are different to the rest of the prisons.

But a spokesman for the Justice Ministry said that the privileges afforded to prisoners were regulated by law. He denied that any rules had been breached saying that no blanket measures had been taken against any division but only against individual prisoners who misbehaved.

The sources said that while all prisoners used to be allowed a daily contact visit, those in Divisions 11, 12 and 13 were no longer being allowed this. They were in fact only being allowed three contact visits weekly and none of these could be held on Saturday.

Moreover, while the families of other prisoners took the prisoners’ clean clothes and food to one place, from where they also collected the dirty laundry, the families of these prisoners were having to make several stops.

Prisoners, the sources said, were not told why they were being treated differently and this was what they were protesting against.

The prisoners were this morning visited by Archbishop Paul Cremona.

Incidentally, a historical Mass is being held at St John’s CoCathedral this evening, bringing together the most senior authorities in the country with prisoners and their families.

The Mass, which is being organised by the organisation Mid-Dlam għad-Dawl, is being held to celebrate the 50th anniversary visit of Pope John XXIII to the prison of Regina Coeli in Rome.

It will include the participation of Archbishop Paul Cremona, President Eddie Fenech Adami, Opposition leader Joseph Muscat, Chief Justice Vincent Degaetano, other members of the judiciary, MPs, prisoners and their families, former prisoners and their families, prison wardens, lawyers, people working in the justice sector and others.