Corrections Services of Canada official Dianne Brown said Mary Braun and Tina Zmaeff "seemed quite happy" when they were told Thursday that they would get a new hearing.

Braun, 67, and Zmaeff, 63, are on the 95th day of a hunger strike at Matsqui prison to protest their imprisonment on an eight-year sentence for arson.

[Peter Savinkoff] said Braun and Zmaeff were called by their families a few days ago and told they should tell the parole board they are willing to give up arson as a form of religious protest. Both had earlier made the commitment to a visitor, but had never told officials.

After 94 days without food, two Freedomite Doukhobor women have been granted a new hearing by the National Parole Board.

Corrections Services of Canada official Dianne Brown said Mary Braun and Tina Zmaeff "seemed quite happy" when they were told Thursday that they would get a new hearing.

But she said it's difficult to know if they feel confident enough about their potential release to start eating again. A date for the hearing has not been set.

"They are looking forward to appearing before the board," Brown said.

Braun, 67, and Zmaeff, 63, are on the 95th day of a hunger strike at Matsqui prison to protest their imprisonment on an eight-year sentence for arson.

The fast is the longest they've ever been on and as of today, the longest recorded hunger strike in history. The previous longest is believed to be that of nine Irish political prisoners who starved themselves for 94 days in 1920, from Aug. 11 to Nov. 12. They ate after a pardon was negotiated on their behalf by nationalist Arthur Griffith.

Brown said the Doukhobor women are "about the same" - bedridden and drinking water with lemon in it.

Fellow Freedomites in Gilpin, near Grand Forks, were also happy about the new hearing, though they said it had better happen soon, before one of the women dies.

"Everyone is worried. They expect one or both of the ladies to pass away any day now," Peter Savinkoff, a Freedomite and friend of the pair, said Thursday.

Savinkoff said Braun and Zmaeff were called by their families a few days ago and told they should tell the parole board they are willing to give up arson as a form of religious protest. Both had earlier made the commitment to a visitor, but had never told officials.

The pair was denied parole last month because, according to parole board regional manager Fraser Simmons they were still "a risk to the community."

Simmons was in Ottawa Thursday and unavailable for comment on the review board's decision.

Savinkoff was told the women will be interviewed at Matsqui prison's psychiatric unit as they are too weak to attend a formal hearing.

Brown, of corrections, said: "They're still very talkative. They can converse with the staff people that come in to see them."

Braun and Zmaeff have lengthy criminal records for arson, a crime they believe is a spiritual cleanser for Doukhobors.

Around the 70th day of this fast, both were separately admitted to hospital and given intravenous treatments for about 24 hours because their conditions turned critical. But as soon as they became well enough to know what was happening, they refused treatment and were transferred back to Matsqui.

Brown said the nutrients they received helped carry them through the last three weeks.