UK government facing legal action from pro-Palestine hunger strikers

Credit: House of Commons / Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

London law firm Imran Khan & Partners said yesterday it had sent a letter before action addressed to the justice secretary, David Lammy, with a request for a reply within 24 hours due to their clients’ risk of dying after weeks on open-ended hunger strike.

Four remand prisoners are said to remain on all-out hunger strike while awaiting trial for offences linked to Palestine Action, alleged to have taken place before the direct action protest group’s controversial proscription under UK terrorism legislation.

Qesser Zuhrah, the 20-year-old in HMP Bronzefield, which was surrounded by protesters earlier this week after prison officials initially refused requests to transfer her to hospital for treatment, has ended her hunger strike after 48 days, according to the letter.

Remaining on hunger strike are Amy “Amu” Gardiner-Gibson (day 51), Heba Muraisi (day 50), Teuta Hoxha (day 44) and Kamran Ahmed (day 43).

Lewie Chiaramello is on day 29 of a “rolling strike”, while Jon Cink and Umer Khalid were previously on hunger strike for 43 and 15 days respectively.

The hunger strikers’ five demands are the end of alleged censorship inside prison, immediate release on bail, the release of information relating to their prosecutions, the deproscription of Palestine Action, and the shutting down of Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems’ UK operations.

The lawyers’ letter alleges that a policy framework and accompanying guidelines on the management of prisoners who are refusing food have not been followed in their clients’ case.

The letter contends that “a meeting with senior government officials to try and resolve the situation is both an urgent necessity and a legitimate expectation arising from published policy”.