Palestine Action hunger strikers call for urgent meeting with ministers

Lawyers for eight remand prisoners who are on hunger strike while waiting to go on trial for alleged offences relating to Palestine Action are calling for an urgent meeting with ministers.

In a letter seen by the BBC, the lawyers tell Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary David Lammy that there is a "real and increasingly likely potential" their clients will die in prison as part of their protest.

Two of the defendants had been refusing food for 37 days and five of the group have spent periods in hospital, according to the letter.

Earlier, MPs John McDonnell and Jeremy Corbyn told the Commons Speaker that ministers had not responded to requests for information about the protests.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has been approached for comment and has previously said that the prison service continually assesses prisoners' well-being and takes appropriate action.

The protests taking place in five different prisons involve eight people who have all been charged with offences relating to alleged break-ins or criminal damage on behalf of Palestine Action, charges that are denied, before the group was banned under terrorism legislation.

Four of the group are accused of playing roles in the break-in to an Israeli-linked defence firm in 2024 and are due to go on trial in May next year at the earliest.

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.

In the letter sent to Lammy on Tuesday, lawyers for Qesser Zuhrah, Amy Gardiner-Gibson, Jon Cink, Heba Muraisi, Teuta Hoxha and Kamran Ahmed say they have all been refusing food since early November.

Ms Zuhrah and Ms Gardiner-Gibson have been refusing to eat for 38 days as of Wednesday, according to supporters. Each of the others are said to have been refusing to eat for at least 30 days.

Two further detainees awaiting trial in Palestine Action-related cases began refusing food in the last fortnight.

"Each of our clients' health is deteriorating rapidly," says the letter.

"Five of our clients have already been hospitalised during their strike."

The protest began over a series of demands including a call for the ban on Palestine Action to be lifted and for a defence firm with links to Israel to be shut down.

Three High Court judges are expected to rule within weeks on the lawfulness of the ban. That review is a result of the courts granting the group's co-founder permission to challenge the Home Secretary's decision.

The protesters say they have been denied bail, which they want, or a fair trial - although they have faced the same legal process as other defendants in Crown Court trials - hearings that have been independently witnessed by journalists.

In the letter to Lammy, the group's lawyers say they are considering legal action over human rights breaches.

"We, as their legal team, are under no illusion that their commitment to their cause, and their will to ensure that their demands are met, is iron-clad," the letter says.

"We are concerned that, should this situation be allowed to continue without resolution, there is the real and increasingly likely potential that young British citizens will die in prison, having never even been convicted of an offence.

"We therefore request an urgent meeting with you, in an attempt to resolve this situation, before it becomes too late to avoid the death of one or more of our clients."

Supporters of the detainees say they have formally complained about their treatment in prison. The BBC cannot independently corroborate that claim. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, an independent body, does not comment on individual complaints it receives or investigates.

The Ministry of Justice has not commented on the letter - but earlier in Parliament the speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said that it was "unacceptable" that ministers had not responded to requests for information from MPs.

John McDonnell told the House he had written to Lammy last Wednesday and not heard back.

"We've not received any response," he said. "I informed his office yesterday I'd be raising a point of order. We gave it another day. We still haven't had a response to that letter. This is a matter of urgency."

Jeremy Corbyn added that he had visited one of the hunger strikers and was "deeply concerned".

Sir Lindsay told McDonnell that it was "totally unacceptable" that ministers had not responded to him.

"I can't make a meeting happen, but I do expect people's correspondence to be dealt with quickly and effectively."

Responding earlier in the week to inquiries about the hunger strike, a spokesman for the Prison Service said: "We continually assess prisoners' well-being and take the appropriate action, including taking prisoners to hospital if they are assessed as needing hospital treatment by a medical professional."

A MoJ spokesperson said: "The deputy prime minister has responded to and will continue to respond to correspondence on this issue, and is being kept informed of the situation."