HMP Bristol governor incorrectly denies diabetic Palestine hunger striker is on hunger strike

The governor of HMP Bristol has falsely denied a pro-Palestine hunger striker is on hunger strike. The person in question is Governor Amanda Corrigan, and it’s her response to hunger striker Lewie Chiaramello, who is on remand. Chiaramello, who is a Type 1 diabetic, is one of dozens of activists awaiting trial over allegations related to Palestine Action.

Chiaramello is clearly and publicly listed as a hunger striker on the Prisoners for Palestine website. He is also named as a hunger striker in the online toolkit for hunger-strikers.

HMP Bristol, censorship, and denial of legal documents

Enterprising Palestine activist Corrie Drew is a former Corbyn-era parliamentary candidate for Bournemouth. She famously enjoys boiling the piss of Daily Mail readers.

Drew told the Canary that she’d managed to guess Corrigan’s well-concealed email address. She sent Corrigan the following:

I am writing to demand that HMP Bristol immediately address an urgent medical situation in regard to its inmate Louie Chiaramello, who has been on hunger strike for over a month, and whose health is now in critical condition.

To ensure that this inmates demands are met, and their life spared, it is critical that… the inmate be released from custody while awaiting trial, as is their legal right; and that the inmate be given unrestricted access to all of their legal documents to ensure they are given a fair trial–again, as is their legal right.

Thank you in advance for letting me know what you have done to address the above concerns.

An annoyed-sounding Corrigan wrote back:

Dear Corrie,

Mr Chiaramello is not on hunger strike.

He is checked by the medical team regularly and is in good health.

His mail is not being censored.

Only the judge in his case can change his remand status – you would need to direct your request to them.

He is not restricted from accessing his legal documents.

Drew told us there is a meeting tonight to discuss the new developments and the ongoing hunger strike. Sign up to join here.

Killing children is wrong

Drew told us that Corrigan’s HMP Bristol and other UK jails were not behaving responsibly:

It’s clear from this response that HMP Bristol & the other prisons involved are not taking their responsibility at all seriously. Governor Corrigan is either negligent or a liar.

She also said:

Lewie and the other hunger strikers are political prisoners, held by the state without charge – not because they are a danger to the public, but because they dared to challenge the government. Day in, day out for over two years now ordinary people have shouted from the rooftops that killing children is wrong, starving people is wrong, bombing hospitals is wrong.

We have begged our government to stop enabling a genocide that we’ve seen with our own eyes. Ordinary people have given up their freedom & are now willing to give up their lives to save those of others. Yet the government laughs in their faces.

Drew said the situation was “a damning indictment of the state”:

We should all be afraid of a government willing to kill its citizens. I urge everyone to visit prisonersforpalestine.org & take action.

If you want to contact HMP governor Amanda Corrigan, you can email here at [email protected]. We’re sure she’d love that.

HMP Bristol had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.

Featured image via the Canary