Six prisoners in a Solomon Islands jail have gone on hunger strike after a judge ruled them ineligible for an amnesty for crimes committed during the ethnic unrest.
The former Malaitan Eagle Force (MEF) militants are in Honiara's Rove Prison accused of murdering a 15-year-old boy.
Last week Justice Francis Mwanesalua ruled that the amnesties did not apply to murder because murder was a basic infringement of the right to life under the Solomons Constitution.
The accused, including alleged ringleader Moses Su'u, applied to have their murder charges thrown out on the grounds they came under the Townsville Peace Agreement provisions of October 2000 granting amnesties for
certain crimes committed during the ethnic unrest.
