Ex-spy chief protests in jail he helped build

Former Peruvian spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos started a hunger strike to protest against his transfer to a maximum-security naval prison he helped design for guerrilla leaders, his wife said yesterday.

‘‘What is very worrisome is his fragile state of health. He has already lost 33 pounds,’’ Trinidad Becerra told Lima’s channel 4 last night. ‘‘He is very weak.’’

Becerra, who is under house arrest for alleged links to her husband’s multimillion-dollar bank accounts, said her husband had not eaten since Thursday and would continue the strike until he was moved to a civilian prison because he did not belong with terrorists.