UK MP Zarah Sultana holds vigil outside prison holding Palestine Action hunger striker

Activist Qesser Zuhrah 'at immediate risk of dying' from 46-day hunger strike while she awaits trial

Zarah Sultana, centre, is joined by protesters outside HMP Bronzefield, where a sit-in is now being staged. Photo: Zarah Sultana / X

A British MP is protesting outside a prison near London over the treatment of a Palestine Action activist who is on her 46th day of hunger strike.

Zarah Sultana, co-founder of the left-wing Your Party, said she is “not going anywhere” until HMP Bronzefield in Surrey transfers Qesser Zuhrah to hospital.

At 3am on Wednesday, she announced she was outside Bronzefield, the largest women's prison in Europe, with a capacity for 500 inmates, and has since posted regular pictures to her social media channels.

Lawyers warn Palestine Action hunger strikers could die

Read More

“Palestine Action hunger striker Qesser Zuhrah, now on day 46, is being refused an ambulance by the prison,” Ms Sultana said. “She is critically ill and at immediate risk of dying. An ambulance must be allowed in immediately and she must be transferred to hospital for urgent treatment.”

Protesters outside HMP Bronzefield in Surrey, where Qesser Zuhrah is one of eight Palestine Action activists on hunger strike behind bars. Photo: Zarah Sultana / X

Ms Sultana said she had written to UK Justice Secretary David Lammy and Health Secretary Wes Streeting, but had received no response. She was later joined by 12 demonstrators who have organised a sit-in outside the prison entrance.

During Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Keir Starmer was challenged by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who claimed there have been “regular breaches of prison conditions and prison rules”.

He asked whether the prime minister would make arrangements for the Ministry of Justice to meet the hunger strikers’ lawyers about their treatment.

Mr Starmer said: “He will appreciate there are rules and procedures in place in relation to hunger strikes, and we’re following those rules and procedures.”

Palestine Action was proscribed by the British government in July after staging a series of direct action protests, including breaking into an RAF base and spray-painting two military planes.

Ms Zuhrah has been charged with aggravated burglary, criminal damage and violent disorder concerning a demonstration in August last year, when activists broke into the Bristol base of Israeli-owned weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems. The Crown Prosecution Service determined the break-in was linked to terrorism.

Because of a backlog in the courts, she and other activists could face up to two years on remand in prison before trial, which their lawyers say exceeds Britain's legal 182-day limit.

Ms Zuhrah is one of eight Palestine Action activists staging a hunger strike in prison, demanding bail and an end to the “censorship” of restrictions on their contact with lawyers, family, and mail in general.

A letter from her lawyers last week said she was suffering from pain in her shoulders, finding it difficult to walk and her pulse was high.

A night-time protest vigil outside HMP Bronzefield. Photo: Zarah Sultana / X

The hunger strikers' families and their lawyers are expected to hold a press conference on Thursday.

“Hunger strikers are now risking their lives by adopting the most selfless and peaceful form of protest that we, as humanity, possess,” their lawyers Imran Khan and Partners Solicitors said on Wednesday.

“The government has not responded to any request for a meeting, demands or publicly acknowledged the hunger strike," they said. "Despite being remanded before proscription, all have faced harsher and stricter treatment since Palestine Action was proscribed. However, the hope is that they will have to engage imminently given the deteriorating ill health of the hunger strikers."

Alongside Mr Corbyn, Ms Sultana is co-founder of Your Party, which was formed as a challenge to Labour. More than 50 MPs, led by Mr Corbyn, wrote to Mr Lammy on Tuesday urging him to meet the hunger strikers' lawyers.

The Ministry of Justice did not immediately comment.