6 Prisoners are on Hunger Strike Because of Systematic Abuse” by Prison Warders on Instructions from the Police and Government Prosecutors
Demonstration in support of the Filton 24 17 November 2025
Last
Monday 17 November I attended a demonstration outside the first day of a show
trial at Woolwich Crown Court. I was totally surprised. Instead of a normal
court where you go in, have your bag searched and then sit down in a public
gallery, with maybe a coffee in a
canteen, I couldn’t go anywhere near the court. Massive steel railings, locked
gates and a heavy police presence kept us well away.
One of the most famous legal dictums in British jurisprudence is that “Justice must not only be done, but must also be seen to be done”. This dictum was laid down by the Lord Chief Justice Lord Hewart, in the case of Rex v. Sussex Justices, [1924] 1 KB 256. Justice is neither being done or being seen to be done at what is an extension of the Belmarsh prison complex. This is a prison court.
Woolwich
Crown Court, which during Julian Assange’s appearances doubled as Westminster magistrates
court, was off limits to the public. This is not accidental. It is designed to
impress upon members of the jury that these precautions need to be taken
because they are trying dangerous prisoners.
Resistance is justified when
genocide is about
None
of the Filton 24, of whom 6 are appearing in the first trial, is even charged
with a terrorist offence. The first case focuses on the six defendants who
were caught on the premises of Elbit Systems on August 6, 2024. They are: Zoe
Rogers, Fatema Zainab Rajwani, Jordan Devlin, Samuel Corner, Charlotte “Lottie”
Head and “Ellie”.
They
are charged with criminal damage to the Filton Elbit factory in Bristol. Their
crime? Allegedly destroying the quadcopters that have been used to target the
survivors of missile attacks by Israel. In other words the ‘crime’ of the defendants
is to oppose Israel’s genocide which is deemed in the interests of the British state.
Starmer on genocide in Croatia and Bosnia - was there ever such a lying hypocrite?
The
defendants have been held on remand for over a year despite the fact that no
prisoner is supposed to spend more than 6 months on remand. This outrage is a consequence
of having Starmer and his police state buddies in government and their
continuation of the previous government’s attack on the right to protest and its
support for Israel’s genocide.
This
is what democracy has come to in Britain in the 21st century. If
there was any justice in the court system then it would be Starmer himself,
Lammy, Lisa Nandy and all the other genocidaires in this ‘Labour’ government who
were on trial.
Every
single human rights group in the world – Amnesty
International, Human
Rights Watch and even Israel’s B’tselem
have condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide. On 31 August 2025, the Association
of Genocide Scholars, who know a thing or two about genocide, passed a Resolution
on the Situation in Gaza describing it as genocide by 86%. The UN’s own Commission of Inquiry
has termed Israel’s actions genocide as has UN Rapporteur Francesca
Albanese.
But
Starmer, who called
the killing of 1,200 people in Vukovar in Croatia and the 8,000 Muslims who were
massacred by Serb forces in Srebenica, refuses to call the murder of at least
100,000 and possibly far more in Gaza genocide.
Instead
the people who campaign against genocide and who have taken action to prevent
genocide are the criminals. This is the ’justice’ of British courts. As an article
Palestine solidarity Behind Bars says
that:
The Filton 24 prosecution has been marked by political
interference, the aggressive use of counter-terror powers and repeated breaches
of basic rights. It is the first time the British state has attempted to treat
allegations of property damage as ‘terrorism’, setting a precedent later used
to justify the proscription of Palestine Action. The investigation involved
armed dawn raids, the damage to family homes, children handcuffed in their
underwear in freezing conditions, and properties stripped of all electronic
devices.
Since their arrest, the defendants have been held under
unusually harsh conditions. All 24 were labelled ‘high-risk’ on arrival at HMP
Bronzefield and HMP Peterborough, placed under surveillance regimes normally
reserved for violent offenders, and denied bail at every stage — despite the
non-violent nature of the allegations. Many have now spent more than a year on
remand, far exceeding typical pre-trial detention periods.
The case raises profound questions about the criminalisation
of protest, the expansion of national-security powers and the use of
counter-terror frameworks against political dissent — particularly movements
organising in solidarity with Palestine. Herbich is due to stand trial in June
2026.
MI5 Asset Paul Mason denies anyone is being held without trial
What
happened in Filton?
On August
6, 2024, Palestine Action’s members broke into the premises of Elbit Systems in
Filton, Bristol and allegedly destroyed the quadcopter drones used by the IDF to
target Palestinians.
The
action was estimated to have caused more than £1m in damage. Six activists were
arrested at the scene all of whom are now on trial.
Four others were arrested in connection with the Filton action in nationwide raids days after. Then, in November 2024, more raids saw the number of those arrested and held climb to 18. Later, in June 2025, a final raid led to six more people being arrested. Nearly all the activists have been denied bail despite several applications. Our judges always tremble at the knees and abandon their thinking parts whenever the words ‘terrorism’ or ‘security’ is mentioned.
Hunger
Strike
Six members
began a hunger strike this month in protest against “systematic abuse” in the
prisons, including wardens referring to them as “terrorists”, confiscating
their clothing – including their Palestinian kefiyehs – and restricting their
visits and letters. They include Amu Gib, Heba Muraisi, Jon Cink, Kamran Ahmed,
Teuta “T” Hoxha and Qesser Zurah.
The group
has vowed to refuse food until Elbit is shut down and prison authorities stop
the alleged abuse.
This is
the second hunger strike Hoxha has observed within the last three months.
In
August, she refused food for three weeks over worsening treatment by prison
staff in the aftermath of the government's move to ban the group under
terrorism legislation in July.
The
campaign group Prisoners for Palestine (PFP) announced the launch of the rolling hunger strike after
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood failed to respond to a letter outlining their
demands, including immediate bail and an end to prison interference with their
personal communications, as well as the de-proscription of Palestine Action.
More are
expected to participate in the coming weeks.
'I will
persevere'
The
prisoners have received widespread support from pro-Palestine activists.
Former
Lebanese political prisoner Georges Abdallah - freed in July after 41 years in
a French jail - sent a message to the hunger strikers, expressing his ‘full solidarity with the Comrades of
‘Prisoners for Palestine’ in the face of “repression”.
From
house arrest, US activist Jakhi McCray, who is accused of torching police
vehicles, said he will also begin a hunger strike in solidarity and to draw
attention to their case.
In his
letter, McCray wrote:
These comrades have been physically
isolated even within their prisons, banned from communicating with family and
friends, assaulted, denied a fair trial, and harassed over their religion.
Zurah,
Gibb and Muraisi reported that they have been repeatedly denied medical
attention and refused requests for electrolytes. One of the prisoners has now
gone a week without food.
PFP said
the government has still not issued a response to their letter nor commented on
the strikers.
"I am astounded by T's resilience
in joining her comrades in this hunger strike, having just completed one two
months ago,"
PFP's Audrey Corno said.
"In our last visit, she told me: 'Don't worry about
me. I've read about Guantanamo, and
I am embarrassed - I will do this hunger strike in comparative comfort.
Whatever happens to me cannot compare to the scenes in Palestine. Therefore I
will persevere.'"
"This is the strength the British
state is up against," Corno added.
Palestine
Solidarity Behind Bars
Aleksandra
Herbich is one of twenty-four defendants in the Filton 24 case — a group of activists,
most linked to Palestine
Action, arrested after a direct-action protest at the Elbit
Systems weapons factory in Filton, near Bristol, in August 2024. Here is
her letter to her parents:
Dear Mum and Dad,
What a year it has been.
One year of trauma at the hands of the state. One year of imprisonment
without trial, with no hope of bail. One year of being classified as the
highest security threat by HMPPS; punished, isolated and surveilled without
cause.
One year of seeing the suffering of women and trans men in
broken prisons up close. One year of hearing their stories: criminalised for
being poor, mentally unwell, or both.
One year of experiencing an impenetrable web of bureaucracy
used as a weapon against the voiceless. One year of abuse of state power backed
by judicial tyranny, funded by a seemingly endless stream of taxpayer money.
One year of watching the government’s unrighteous smear
campaign on TV in my cell, in order to justify classifying protest as
terrorism. One year of the continuing destruction of civil liberties in the
name of the military-industrial complex.
One year without freedom or dignity. But never without hope —
because it’s also been one more year of all races, genders, ages, religions,
and classes unified towards a free Palestine.
One more year of the people continuing to stand up and say
‘No! Not in our name!’
One more year of civil disobedience on a scale never seen
before around the world in defence of freedom for all.
One more year of government hypocrisy exposed for all to see.
One more year of struggle against the oppression of the masses in the service
of the one percent. One more year of ‘There’s no justice — there’s just us!’
One more year of friends, family and the people reminding me
I’m not alone and how lucky I am to be in their presence. One more year of community
building and solidarity in the face of the destructive forces of individualism.
One more year of having faith that things get worse just before they get
infinitely better with a little perseverance.
So here’s one gone, and seven months to come, with nothing to
do except prepare for my trial. And to that I say: bring it on!
Love,
your daughter, Aleks
Exclusive: Absconded activist refuses to be “prisoner of war”
Palestine Action trial begins in London – what we know
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