BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — Inmates at several prisons in Kyrgyzstan have gone on a hunger strike over new restrictions that effectively bars them from having prostitute visits, a state official told AFP on Tuesday.

"Prisoners at seven prisons have refused to take their meals," Joldochbek Bouzourmankoulov, spokesman for the country's prison sentencing agency, told the news service.

Bouzourmankoulo said the hunger strike was tied to new limits on prisoner visits. In the past inmates had the right to visits from their families and others, he said. "But under the label for 'others,' they were bringing prostitutes to the prison," he told AFP.

From now on, only relatives with identity cards can visit, AFP reported.

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