Pro-Palestine activists daub MoJ building with red paint in protest over hunger strikers | UK news
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators painted the Ministry of Justice building in central London with red paint, demanding that the justice minister meet eight hunger strikers affiliated with the Palestine Movement.
Activists said two protesters were arrested following Friday’s action. They are demonstrating over the treatment of hunger strikers, who will be detained for more than a year before trial.
They said they sprayed the building with red paint, symbolizing blood.
“We brought the issue to the agenda [the justice secretary] David Lammy for continuing to ignore the lawyers, friends and family of the hunger strikers. They ignore the fact that their lives are in imminent danger,” one of the demonstrators said in a video posted online.
They were supporting what was believed to be the largest demonstration in Britain since the hunger strike by IRA prisoners led by Bobby Sands. Approximately 30 activists affiliated with the Palestine Movement are awaiting trial on various charges. Twenty-four people were charged in connection with a protest at Elbit Systems in Filton, near Bristol, last year, while five others were charged in connection with a protest in Brize Norton.
Filton, 24, is scheduled to stand trial on charges of aggravated burglary, criminal damage and violent disorder. No charges were brought under the Terrorism Act, although the Crown Prosecution Service said there was a “terrorism link”.
The trial in Brize Norton’s case is scheduled for January 2027. All 29 people are accused of participating in protests that took place before Palestine Action was banned.
On Thursday, independent MP Jeremy Corbyn described Lammy’s refusal to meet as “outrageous”. He said that he wrote a letter to the minister of justice on November 20 to discuss his voter Amu Gib, who is on the 41st day of his hunger strike. In response to Corbyn’s letter, Lammy said the safety of prisoners “remains our key concern”.
Two of the hunger strikers who could not be released on bail, Heba Muraisi and Kamran Ahmed, will remain in detention for 19 months before the hearing. The other four men (Gib, Jon Cink, Lewie Chiaramello and Muhammad Umer Khalid) await trial for 18 months, while Qesser Zuhrah and Teuta Hoxha are expected to remain in custody for 17 months until their trial date.
While Gib and Zuhrah have been on hunger strike for 41 days, Muraisi has been on hunger strike for the 40th day, and Cink, Hoxha and Ahmed have been on hunger strike for 37, 34 and 33 days respectively. Chiaramello has been on strike for 19 days and Khalid for nine days. Five people from the group have been hospitalized so far, activists said.
The Department of Justice has been contacted for comment.
