Five individuals recently released from UK prisons have come forward with severe allegations of medical neglect and dehumanizing treatment during their prolonged pre-trial detention. The group, associated with direct action organization Palestine Action, had engaged in a 66-day hunger strike protesting their extended custody.
Kamran Ahmed, 28, described experiencing persistent chest pains and breathing difficulties since concluding his hunger strike at HMP Pentonville. Medical tests during the strike revealed his heart muscle had significantly atrophied, with healthcare professionals warning him of imminent ‘death risk.’ Ahmed recounted being shackled to prison officers during multiple hospitalizations, even during showers, despite doctors’ requests to remove restraints. ‘The doctors had made multiple attempts to tell the officers, “I think you need to actually remove the cuffs or at least loosen them,”‘ Ahmed told journalists.
The defendants were initially detained in connection with an alleged August 2024 break-in at an Elbit Systems weapons factory near Bristol. Their detention exceeded the UK’s standard six-month pre-trial custody limit, occurring amid the Labour government’s controversial—and later court-deemed unlawful—proscription of Palestine Action in July 2025.
Other detainees reported similar experiences. Teuta Hoxha, 30, stated she was ‘chained to an officer like a dog’ during hospital visits. Qesser Zuhrah, 21, described being left immobile on her cell floor for 22 hours with worsening chest pains, with prison staff allegedly refusing her requests for ambulance transport. Heba Muraisi, 31, reported being ‘violently cuffed and dragged across the prison by six guards’ and denied appropriate religious accommodations.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson maintained that ‘all individuals were managed in line with longstanding policy while in prison,’ including regular medical checks and hospital transfers when deemed appropriate. The hunger strike concluded in December after the government decided not to award a contract to Elbit’s UK subsidiary. Most defendants were released on bail in February after aggravated burglary charges were dropped against 18 individuals.