Albanian authorities say another former political prisoner has set himself on fire to protest delays in government compensation for victims of the country's communist government.
Officials said Wednesday 47-year-old Lirak Bejko was admitted to a hospital after suffering burns to his body. Another man was hospitalized with burns on Monday.
The two are among a group of 20 former political prisoners who have been on a hunger strike for 19 days. They want the government to compensate all the victims of the harsh rule of communist dictator Enver Hoxha, demanding that it honor its pledge to pay each victim $18.50 for each day spent in prison. Officials say the government has already begun making the payments.
Tens of thousands of Albanians were killed, executed or imprisoned between 1944, when the Nazis were driven out of Albania, and 1990, when communist rule collapsed.