Italy: Romanian inmate dies after 50-day hunger strike

Lecce, 14 May (AKI) - A Romanian inmate has died in a hospital in southern Italy on Monday, 50 days after starting a hunger strike to protest his incarceration for crimes he said he didn't commit.

Police said they opened an investigation into Popo Virgil Cristria's death. The 38-year-old Bucharest native had been an inmate in a Lecce prison since the end of last year. He was serving a sentence for theft and other crimes.

He began the hunger strike at the end of March to draw attention to his case and removed feeding tubes intended to nourish him intravenously.