LONDON: A prisoner on hunger strike in the UK, detained for activities in support of the banned group Palestine Action, has lost the ability to speak, The Independent reported.
Heba Muraisi said in a statement that she can no longer “form sentences, and (is) struggling to maintain conversation.” She added via the Prisoners for Palestine group that she feels “weaker as each day passes.”
Campaigners say another prisoner on hunger strike now cannot stand up. Eight activists initially went on strike awaiting trial for a range of alleged offenses relating to Palestine Action, including violence and criminal damage.
Earlier this month two of the activists, Qesser Zuhrah and Amu Gib, paused their strikes after 48 days and were admitted to hospital.
As well as Muraisi, three others remain on hunger strike: Teuta Hoxha, Kamran Ahmed and Lewie Chiaramello.
Hoxha, according to Prisoners for Palestine, is “no longer able to stand without blacking out,” experiences “increasing levels of brain fog” and is “virtually bedridden.”
The hunger strikers are demanding immediate bail and to be allowed to “send and receive communications without restriction, surveillance, or interference from the prison administration.”
The eight have been charged over two incidents, a break-in at a Royal Air Force base in June that saw two military aircraft damaged, and a break-in at a facility owned by Israeli-linked defense company Elbit Systems UK on Nov. 19, 2024.
A spokesperson for Prisoners for Palestine said: “Unlike the prison guards, who lock up the prisoners early to go home to their Christmas dinner, the hunger strikers don’t get a Christmas break.
“Just like the Christians in Gaza, who continue to suffer in the freezing cold at the hands of the settler-colonial entity.
“The hunger strikers say to us, don’t forget the people of Palestine over Christmas, and continue to demand a meeting with the British government on their behalf.”
Lawyers acting for the eight have said they risk death if their strike continues and the government does not intervene.
Earlier this month, protests took place led by MP Zarah Sultana over claims that Zuhrah had been refused an ambulance, and the hunger strikers’ legal teams have begun action against the government over what they say are breaches of its own prison safety policy framework.
Prisons Minister James Timpson said: “We are very experienced at dealing with hunger strikes. Unfortunately, over the last five years we have averaged over 200 hunger strike incidents every year and the processes that we have are well-established and they work very well — with prisons working alongside our NHS (National Health Service) partners every day, making sure our systems are robust and working — and they are.
“I am very clear. I don’t treat any prisoners differently to others. That is why we will not be meeting any prisoners or their representatives.
“We have a justice system that is based on the separation of powers, and the independent judiciary is the cornerstone of our system.”
