Dozens Arrested Outside London Prison Supporting Palestinian Hunger Strikers

Police Arrest 86 Protesters Outside London Prison

A group of 86 people were arrested by London’s Metropolitan Police outside a London prison on Saturday after protesters refused to leave the grounds when ordered to do so. The incident occurred at Prison Wormwood Scrubs, where a Palestine Action-linked activist, Umer Khalid, has been on hunger strike since November.

Khalid, 22, had stopped eating 16 days ago and was being held in the prison. According to police, protesters “allegedly blocked prison staff from entering and leaving” and “threatened police officers.” Videos of the incident show police officers shoving protesters to the ground and handcuffing them.

The protesters were detained under suspicion of aggravated trespass. Khalid had planned to escalate his hunger strike to exclude all fluids starting on Saturday, but a prison guard remains outside his cell in case he needs urgent medical attention.

Khalid is among five activists accused of breaking into Brize Norton airbase in Oxfordshire in June and spray-painting two Voyager refuelling and transport planes. The group has pleaded not guilty.

Seven other protesters have been involved in rolling hunger strikes since November, with three members concluding their protests this month. The Prisoners for Palestine Group’s list of demands includes bail, the right to a fair trial, and the de-proscription of Palestine Action.

The UK government had previously banned the group under “antiterrorism” laws, leading to multiple protests and hundreds of arrests since then.

Source: Al Jazeera