Five hunger strikers hospitalized

JEMBER, East Java: Five of eight students from state Islamic college STAIN were rushed to the hospital on Tuesday to be treated for dehydration. The students had been sitting a hunger strike for four days.

The hospitalized students are Saiful Haq, Muhasin, Edy Susanto, Achmad Hamzah and Arik Eko Purwanto.

"My friends and I will go on with this protest until our demand is understood by the school," said Abdul Hamid, coordinator of the hunger strike. His condition had also deteriorated by the fifth day of the strike, and he looked pale and weakened.

The eight students started began the strike on Thursday in protest, demanding that three deputy rectors resign for their alleged involvement in on-campus corruption.

The protest came after the STAIN rector was dismissed by the Minister of Religious Affairs for his suspected involvement in the misuse of funds allotted for lecturers' professional development programs. -- Antara