Zarah Sultana rushes to Bronzefield for dying hunger strike prisoner

UPDATE: at 6pm, after police put a Section 14 in place, protesters dispersed. Dr Ayo and one other attendee were taken away after being arrested.

UPDATE: at 5pm, police looked like they were preparing to impose a Section 14, which could lead to arrests and kettling.

UPDATE: at 4:15pm, protesters were blocking the road, calling for the doctor to be de-arrested. Zarah Sultana was still on site negotiating with the police.

UPDATE: at 3:30pm as protesters were leaving, police arrested the only Black man there, an NHS doctor, and then became violent:

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UPDATE: at 2pm, Qesser was taken to hospital.

UPDATE: at 1:15 pm, after it was eventually called, an ambulance did arrive for Qesser.

UPDATE: at 12pm, we found out that both HMP Bronzefield and the police lied when they told us an ambulance had been called – because it hadn’t.

UPDATE: at 11:15am, police informed the Canary that HMP Bronzefield had asked for an ambulance to take Qesser to hospital.

UPDATE: HMP Bronzefield management began a meeting at 9am to discuss Qesser’s case.

UPDATE: at 8:15, many staff began filing in – and some were angry with the presence of supporters of Qesser.

UPDATE: at 7:45am, some of the prisoners of the Filton 24 were taken away to their trial.

UPDATE: as of 7:30am, Zarah Sultana is still waiting to go inside the prison to talk to management about Qesser’s urgent need for an ambulance and a hospital admission

UPDATE: as of 7am the situation was still ongoing. The Canary has been with Zarah Sultana since 3:30am, attempting to help Qesser Zuhrah, currently on hunger strike – and by 7am, the prison had still refused to speak with Zarah or two NHS doctors who had also arrived on the scene. HMP Bronzefield then called the police to protect workers from a sitting MP, two doctors, and two Canary journalists. However, this seemed to backfire as the police then went into the prison to find out why staff had not called an ambulance for Qesser. After this, Zarah should be allowed into the prison to speak to management.

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Qesser Zuhrah: at serious risk

Your Party MP Zarah Sultana rushed in the early hours of the morning of Wednesday, 17 December, to HMP Bronzefield. It was because one of the Filton 24 hunger strike prisoners was at serious risk of death – and the prison was refusing to call an ambulance.

Qesser Zuhrah is now on the 46th day of her hunger strike. As the Guardian reported:

Palestine Action-affiliated hunger strikers are likely to die without David Lammy’s intervention, lawyers representing the prisoners have said as they criticised the justice secretary for refusing to meet them.

Solicitors wrote to Lammy last Wednesday to request an urgent meeting before their clients’ health deteriorates “beyond any possible recovery”. But a subsequent letter sent on Tuesday said that his reply, received on Monday “does not directly address our request”.

Two of those refusing food are on day 45 of their protest – one day less than Martin Hurson did before becoming the sixth of 10 IRA hunger strikers to die in 1982 – and another is on day 44.

The latest letter says that Qesser Zuhrah, who has been refusing food since 2 November, experienced her legs shaking uncontrollably a few nights ago, collapsed on to the floor for hours and went in and out of consciousness.

Seemingly, it seems Qesser’s situation has severely deteriorated. So, Sultana has dramatically intervened.

Sultana makes late-night dash to the hunger strike prisoner

She understands that the prison medical team conducted an ECG on Qesser. They claimed everything was fine – which the Your Party MP believes is not the case. The prison has also denied an ambulance to take her to hospital. So, Sultana said she will sit outside until the prison allows an ambulance in. Reception at the prison appeared to cut her off:

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As of 3:45am on 17 December, the prison had not allowed Sultana in – nor had it called an ambulance. She had been streaming live onto both TikTok and Insta – and this prompted multiple members of the public to say they were going to join her. The Canary is on its way as well.

Human rights groups, which have already slammed the Starmer regime’s ‘lawfare’ war on anti-genocide protest and particularly the political imprisonment of the ‘Filton 24’ group of activists of which the hunger-strike prisoners are members. Amnesty International has now also warned Starmer that his intransigence risks killing people who do not deserve to be detained under the anti-terrorism laws that the government is using against them. Amnesty’s campaigns director Kerry Moscogiuri said:

This is crisis point for these activists – prosecutors must drop the allegations of a ‘terrorism connection’ in these cases and end any excessively lengthy pre-trial detention. Those on hunger strike are victims of the UK’s excessively broad terrorism laws which have been misused to escalate ordinary criminal prosecutions of direct-action protesters into terrorism cases.

Justice secretary David Lammy has repeatedly lied – saying he was not aware of the hunger strike and the prisoners’ situation. As Labour MP John McDonnell told the Canary, he was also refused to meet with the hunger strikers’ families, their lawyers, or the group of MPs urging him to take action:

🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Of course @johnmcdonnellMP is right – the hunger strikers are innocent yet David Lammy refuses to act. For shame. @Prisoners4Pal pic.twitter.com/jytBbtS3nI

— Canary (@TheCanaryUK) December 16, 2025

So, Zarah Sultana has taken matters into her own hands – and the Canary will be monitoring the situation as Qesser fights for her life, thanks to the Labour government’s authoritarian cruelty on behalf of the state of Israel.

Featured image via the Canary

Tags: palestine protest

Comments 2

Airlane1979 says:

6 months ago

If one or more of these incalculably courageous protestors dies, we can expect little more than abuse and vilification of them from our right-wing Labour government and the corporate media. These good people will be patronised as ignorant dupes of Hamas, or dangerous advocates of terrorism. What is not going to happen is any change in UK support for the genocidal apartheid State of Israel, sadly.

Patrick McQueenie says:

6 months ago

The person about to DIE in a British Prison where they are being detained illegally arrested and imprisoned for taking part in a Peaceful Protest. The Police the Politicians and the Rabid Right Wing owned and Managed British Media are the Cause. All mentioned above are to blame for the Moral Decay which has seeped into the minds of mostly Decent Caring People. For Fifty Years or even longer the Police in England Wales and Northern Ireland have been Politicised by successive Governments. I take no pleasure in printing the following but I am glad that the Scottish People have had the use of a well meaning Scottish Government for the last two decades. The SNP are not Perfect but compared to a New Labour or Tory Alternative they are more than acceptable. Our Scottish Government would never allow one of its Citizens to starve themselves to Death for a trumped up Crime for which they should never have been Imprisoned. How can a UK Government in Westminster allow this injustice to happen to a Decent Person protesting against Netanyahu and his Jewish People carrying out Genocide against the People of Palestine. Their is a deep Hatred towards the People of not just Britain but America and Mainland Europe who refuse to accept the Mantra And Commands of their Governments. We are not and never have lived in a Democracy in a True Democracy the Elected Representatives of the People listen to their Concerns but Democracy like every Political Idealistic Concept is A LIE. Think about Democracy have any Working Class People been really happy and satisfied with their own living standards and conditions. The only time we live in what the Elites tell us is a Democracy is when we the Majority do as we are TOLD. If this Good Caring Person DIES in a British Prison or Hospital it will be a Crime and No one in the Government Police and the Rabid Right Wing Racist Press Should be Absolved of Blame. And what about us the Masses the Huge Majority, are We so Brainwashed and Indoctrinated with the Establishment Propaganda Machine.The Monsters of LIES and Insidious slithering Creatures just like all New Labour politicians Tories and Reform. In their total Disregard and Contempt for the British People. the Person about to become A Martyr for Decency a Person only a Small Minority of Politicians could hope to Be.This Could Be The Tipping Point for the Indecent Ultra Right Wing Establishment Owned by BILLIONAIRES. The Government is NOT Acting in the Best Interest of OUR COUNTRY SAVE THIS DECENT HUMAN BEING.