Mapuche political prisoner Eliseo Reiman Sunday was transferred from Lebu prison to a hospital after he spent two months of hunger strike and seven days of not drinking water.
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"Reiman's health is deteriorating due to the hunger strike that he and his comrades have been carrying out," the Mapuche spokesman Miguel Maliqueo informed.
The prisoner's relatives asked Lebu's authorities for a doctor they trust to access the hospital. They wanted to verify Reiman's real health condition, but the request was rejected.
"Authorities are racist. The treatment the Mapuche prisoners are receiving is notably different from the treatment that non-Mapuche prisoners get," Maliqueo said.
On Sunday, Prisoners Oscar Pilquiman, Robinson Parra, and Guillermo Camus were discharged from the Lebu Hospital. They had spent the last three days hospitalized after their health deteriorated due to the hunger strike.
Mapuche prisoner Tomas Antihuen, who was also transferred to the hospital last week, hasn't been discharged yet. "His health condition is still delicate. A few weeks ago tested COVID-19 positive. He resumed the hunger strike without being fully recovered," Maliqueo explained.
So far, Lebu prison's authorities have transferred 12 Mapuche inmates to the hospital. Among them, eight are on hunger strike and four have stopped consuming liquids.
The inmates are asking to serve part of their sentence in their homes. The request has been reinforced in recent days after the Lebu prison registered a COVID-19 outbreak.
At least 10 officials have tested positive for the virus. President Sebastian Piñera's administration has not referred to the prison's situation nor its inmates' health risks.