A petition with 8,000 signatories calling for the release of republican prisoner Josephine Hayden from Limerick Prison was delivered to the Department of Justice yesterday.
The signatures were collected by a support committee in Ireland, Britain and the United States.
In an accompanying letter, the committee said Hayden should be afforded the same status as a number of men who were arrested with her, but accommodated in Portlaoise prison. Hayden was jailed for six years in 1996 for possession of a shotgun and a revolver.
"She has been treated in this manner because she is a woman political prisoner and because she does not accept the Stormont agreement and remains true to the All-Ireland Republic."
The group also expressed concern at the conditions in Limerick Prison. Hayden suffers from chest pains and heart problems and received hospital treatment last year after a heart attack.
"Josephine is currently the only woman political prison in the 26 counties and has been incarcerated with up to 16 ordinary female prisoners in C Wing which has only 11 cells. The wing was condemned by the (1994) CPT (European Committee for Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment) Report . . . yet it continues to be used as a women's prison." A Department of Justice spokesman confirmed it had received the petition but would not comment on the case.
