The Justice Ministry tabled the legislative measure that would allow inmates, including jailed hunger striker Nikos Romanos, to continue their university studies while in jail. Justice Minister Charalambos Athanassiou said that the regulation would allow distance learning in the standards of an Open University as well as the completion of classes by correspondence.

“The entire infrastructure will be ensured, the inmate-student will study in prison and sit for exams, if there are any questions, then the student will be able to get in touch with their professors over the phone, or the professor could visit the student and sit exams in a specified room in prison, along with a supervisor-teacher, simultaneously with his fellow students,” said Mr. Athanassiou.

In the case of Mr. Romanos, the minister said: “The two labs he has to attend in the current trimester can be replaced by written assignments that he could do in prison. For the computer class, he will be given, like all other students, a free computer, manuals and training.”

Mr. Athanassiou also specified that in the case of a lab class, where the student has to be present, he will contact technical teams to ensure the inmate will not miss the sessions.

Mr. Romanos, now on the 27th day of a hunger strike that began on November 10, started to protest after he was denied educational furlough to attend classes for a course at a Technological Educational Institute, where he had gained a place after sitting university entrance exams in prison.