Bonino resumes election protest hunger strike

Date: 10/05/01

By John Shelley

FORMER Commissioner Emma Bonino has called off her hunger strike - only to start it again.

Bonino, leader of Italy's Radical Party, had refused to eat or drink for five days in protest against the Italian media's coverage of the country's general election.

She gave up that strike last Thursday (3 May) after doctors told her she would die if she continued.

But on Tuesday she started a new strike. Although she is now drinking, Bonino says she will not eat until after the election on Sunday (13 May).

Bonino, who is an MEP and was in charge of fisheries, humanitarian aid and consumer affairs at the Commission until 1999, wants more coverage of the issues she says are key.

The Radical Party is calling for greater freedom for scientific research and the relaxation of Italy's euthanasia laws.

Fellow MEP Olivier Dupuis says Bonino gave up her first strike after signs that the Italian media was beginning to take notice, but she soon became disillusioned again.

"She is a little bit weak but I think she is someone who is naturally full of energy and that is helping a lot," he said.