South Africa protests UK over Palestine hunger strikers
More than 30 pro-Palestine organizations in South Africa staged a solidarity protest on Tuesday outside the British Council in Johannesburg, demanding the immediate release of hunger-striking prisoners held in British jails.
Demonstrators demanded that the detainees be granted bail and that their right to fair, transparent and timely trials be upheld. Organisers warned that several prisoners had gone more than 50 days without food and faced a serious risk of death without urgent intervention, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
The rally coincided with the eighth week of a hunger strike launched on 2 November by prisoners linked to Palestine Action, protesting their prolonged detention and the group's proscription.
In a statement, organisers said the continued imprisonment of the activists without trial, reports of inadequate medical care, and the government's refusal to meaningfully engage with their demands meant responsibility for any loss of life would lie with the British state.
The prisoners are accused of breaking into a factory operated by Elbit Systems and a Royal Air Force base in an attempt to disrupt the supply of fighter jet components to Israel. They remain in pre trial detention without bail, with some held for more than a year, well beyond the standard six month custody limit.
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