This morning, an Islington local ward councillor began a solidarity vigil and 24-hour fast outside the Labour Party office of local MP Emily Thornberry. Ilkay Cinko-Oner is the independent councillor for Laycock Ward, in which hunger striker Kamran Ahmed is held on remand awaiting trial, at HMP Pentonville.
Kamran has been on hunger strike for 37 days now, demanding his right to bail, after being held without trial for 17 months, way beyond normal custody limits. He has been hospitalised twice as his condition worsens, and campaigners say he has been denied medical attention, observation and important vitamins and minerals which could help delay long-term damage or fatal side effects.
Ms Cinko-Oner, the Deputy Leader of the Independent & Green group, wrote to Thornberry at the end of November, but her calls for support have been so far ignored.
Kamran is one of eight prisoners currently participating in what is the UK’s largest hunger strike for decades. They are receiving little media attention, despite an urgent call from more than 50 MPs for David Lammy to meet the hunger strikers’ lawyers, as each day the likelihood of deaths comes nearer. [See letter below]
As well as Kamran, Ms Cinko-Oner is particularly mindful of the plight of Islington resident Amu Gibb, who was one of the first to begin the protest along with Qesser Zuhrah 44 days ago. Both of them are now skeletal and at very high-risk.
Amnesty International also raised the alarm before the weekend. Kerry Moscogiuri, Campaigns Director, 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”.
In a letter to Ms Thornberry, Ilkay Cinko-Oner writes “As your constituent and local authority Cllr I plead and urge you to ask the government to meet with the hunger strikers, give them the medical care they require, and end the UK’s complicity in genocide”.
MPs sign letter to David Lammy:
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