Parole board regional manager Fraser Simmons said he received the cable from the Doukhobor community of Krestova in the West Kootenays, asking for parole for Mary Braun, 66, and Tina Zmaeff, 62, because of their lengthy fast.

Doctors say it's impossible to predict how long someone can go without food. Two years ago, 71-year-old Freedomite Mary Astaforoff died after fasting for 54 days with [Braun] and Zmaeff. Irish Republican Army supporter Bobby Sands died in 1981 in the Maze Prison after 66 days without food.

[Dianne Brown] said Zmaeff is weaker than Braun and both women are still conscious. A doctor checks in on them daily, but because they do not allow themselves to be examined it's difficult to determine how much weight they've lost or how much damage has been done to vital organs.

The National Parole Board got an emergency plea by Telex Thursday for the release of two Freedomite Doukhobor women now in the 59th day of a hunger strike in Matsqui prison.

Parole board regional manager Fraser Simmons said he received the cable from the Doukhobor community of Krestova in the West Kootenays, asking for parole for Mary Braun, 66, and Tina Zmaeff, 62, because of their lengthy fast.

Simmons said he will send the application to Corrections Canada officials today, where it will be reviewed in light of the pair's behavior while in custody.

Asked if the process would be speeded up because of the women's deteriorating health, he said: "That's up to corrections."

As of today, Braun and Zmaeff have never been on a longer fast and friends and relatives in the Kootenays say they think this will be their last hunger strike.

"This is their longest fast and it is probably their final fast," friend Marilyn Smoch said from Nelson.

She said the women have continued to set small fires in prison and that will likely affect their parole application. The Freedomites believe fire is a spiritual cleanser and the women are serving an eight-year sentence for burning a building near Castlegar in 1985.

Corrections spokesman Dianne Brown said they are both still refusing medical treatment and don't allow the prison doctor to examine them.

Both are very dehydrated, bed-ridden and unable to move, she said.

In the past, the women have ended lengthy hunger strikes after delegations from the Doukhobor community visited and pleaded with them, but Brown said no delegations have come down and none are scheduled this time.

"They won't quit for themselves," Smoch said. "They'll only end their fast if there's a meaningful appeal by someone to do it."

Doctors say it's impossible to predict how long someone can go without food. Two years ago, 71-year-old Freedomite Mary Astaforoff died after fasting for 54 days with Braun and Zmaeff. Irish Republican Army supporter Bobby Sands died in 1981 in the Maze Prison after 66 days without food.

The women have been received last-minute pardons before. Braun was paroled last spring, but was returned to prison in the summer because there was an indication she would breach the conditions of her parole.

After a 48-day fast 18 months ago, both women were paroled, but they lit another fire in August 1986 and were sent back to jail. They were also pardoned in 1983 after another lengthy prison fast.

Brown said Zmaeff is weaker than Braun and both women are still conscious. A doctor checks in on them daily, but because they do not allow themselves to be examined it's difficult to determine how much weight they've lost or how much damage has been done to vital organs.

No matter how weak the women get, Corrections Canada's policy is not to force-feed prisoners, Brown said.