Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Eight Palestine Action activists are openly participating hunger strike in jail For almost two months complete Palestine and there have been many He has been admitted to the hospital after his health deteriorated. According to one doctor this is a “severe stage”.
Hunger strike going on in HMP Bronzefield Campaign group Prisoners for Palestine said at a press conference on Thursday that it began on November 2 and called it “the largest coordinated prison hunger strike” in Britain in almost 40 years.
More than 800 doctors, legal experts and family members have sent a letter to Justice Secretary David Lammy, urging him to meet with their lawyers to discuss the ongoing protests.
The letter comes after one of the hunger strikers, 20-year-old Qaiser Zuhraah, who is currently without food for the 47th day, was taken to hospital on Wednesday. Campaigners for Prisoners for Palestine claim that prison staff refused entry to ambulances and delayed Zuhra’s treatment overnight.
Former Labor and now AAP MP Zarah Sultana joined activists outside the prison to protest against the treatment of the hunger strikers.
MP jeremy corbyn Activism was addressed at PMQs on Wednesday, to which Sir Keir Starmer responded that they were following “the rules and procedures” regarding hunger strikes.
More than 50 MPs have signed an open letter to Mr Lammy earlier this week, including: Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell and Ms Sultan’s mother,
Who are the hunger strikers?
A total of eight prisoners are involved, two of whom have had to end their hunger strike due to health conditions.
- Saffron Zuhra, 20 years old, – Day 47
- Amu Gib, 30 years old – Day 47
- Heba Muraisi, 31-years-old – Day 46
- John Cink, 25 years old – Day 41 (Eliminated)
- Tuta Hoxha, 29 years old – day 40
- Kamran Ahmed, 28 years old – Day 39
- Levi Chiaramello, 22 years old – Day 25 (14 days intermittently because he has diabetes)
- Omar Khalid – 22 Years, Day 13 (Eliminated)
What has he been accused of?
Four people in the group are accused of playing a role in the 2024 breach of a defense firm linked to Israel and will go on trial as soon as May next year.
The other four are accused of breaking into RAF Brize Norton in June, where it is alleged they caused millions of pounds worth of damage to two military jets.
Daniel Cooper, the legal representative for all eight prisoners, said he sent several letters to Mr Lammy asking him to meet to discuss “the life-threatening decline in his client’s health”.
He said, “Let us make it clear, our effort is to prevent loss of life. We are confused as to why the Secretary [of State] Wouldn’t you like to be involved in saving lives? his life is in danger Government “They have known about this for some time, but for reasons not clear to us, they have declined our request to meet.”
What are their demands?
- negation of ‘Palestine action‘ as a terrorist group and to be banned
- David Lammy has been asked to meet his legal representatives immediately
- Defense companies with ties to Israel will be closed
- immediate bail for them prisoners
- right to fair trial
- Freedom of expression and opinion and end of censorship while in prison (missing letters, banned books (including feminist literature), blocked phone calls and interrupted visits).
What’s the latest on his medical conditions?
A letter sent by Dr James Smith, an A&E doctor and lecturer at UCL, signed by more than 800 doctors, said: “They are at very high risk of serious complications including organ failure, irreversible neurological damage, cardiac arrhythmias and death.”
At the press conference Dr. James Smith confirmed that “hunger strikers are dying” and said: “Shackling prisoners while in hospital, even while using toilet facilities, or undergoing medical examinations – this is something I have never seen or experienced in my time as a medical professional.”
“It is my view that the British government, the private corporations that run prisons, the police and in some cases NHS providers are currently harming these individuals.”
Several family members of the prisoners told a press conference today that they had lost contact with the prisoners while they were hospitalized and that many of the hunger strikers had to discharge themselves to tell their relatives that they were alive.
All have lost a significant percentage of their body weight and the hunger strike, now in its second month, is reaching a critical stage from which no return is possible”, a spokesperson for Prisoners for Palestine said at the conference today.
What has been the reaction?
MP Jeremy Corbyn, previously addressing the hunger strike in Parliament, called on the Justice Minister to meet with prisoners’ legal representatives and families to discuss the situation and help prisoners “move to safety”.
He explained that “The Minister of State answered me categorically ‘No’ and some of his colleagues laughed at the strength of his response because of his eternal humiliation. I find it outrageous that Members of Parliament should get some kind of entertainment from a Minister refusing to live up to his responsibilities.”
Mr Corbyn said the hunger strikers “are not criminals, they are remand prisoners” and added: “For me they are brave people who carry on the traditions of the suffragettes, the Irish hunger strikers and many others who took the ultimate act of deliberately harming their bodies to draw attention to a major crime.
How has the government responded?
Prisons Minister Lord Timpson said: “We are very experienced in dealing with hunger strikes. Unfortunately, over the last five years we have averaged more than 200 hunger strike incidents every year and the processes we have in place are well established and they work very well – prisons work with our NHS partners every day to make sure our systems are strong and working – and they are.
“I have been very clear. I do not treat any prisoner differently from others. That is why we will not meet any prisoners or their representatives. We have a justice system that is based on the separation of powers, and an independent judiciary is the cornerstone of our system.”