Baggs
mouse44
Oreo and others, you probably did not realise that the hunger strikers had not yet been convicted of any crime. They had been on remand since they were arrested in November 2024 and were not due to be tried until June next year at the earliest. The rule says that prisoners should not be on remand for more than 6 months. They have not been charged with terrorist offences and yet they are being treated as terrorists - denied books, allowed only minimal visits etc. Their alleged offences took place before Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist group. Until the case is tried we do not know exactly what they did; much has been exaggerated by social media. I feel very glad that some sort of compromise has been reached and these young people have not died.
Interesting, mouse44. If they are waiting for trial (like lots of other people because of lawyerly delays), surely they have been charged?
I've just found this on skynews:
"Their lawyers say that by the time of their trial, they will have spent more than a year in custody - long past the standard six-month custody time limit set out in UK law.
Prisons minister Lord Timpson has said the prisoners are charged with serious offences and remand decisions are for independent judges."
Standard six-month time limit. So sometimes it's different depending on the seriousness of offences, one presumes.
Some people charged with offences have been waiting far longer for a trial. They may or not be in custody but the uncertainty can last for years as highlighted in some recent, completely different, cases.
All of them have been objecting to the time on remand ahead of trials, which are up to a year away due to the unprecedented court backlogs.
Hunger strikes are deemed to be part of the right to protest under human rights law, which means the state no longer has any power to forcibly feed a prisoner, unless doctors conclude they lack the mental capacity to understand the consequences of their actions.
If a prisoner understands the risk that they may die and has made their wishes clear, doctors will not give them food, even if it would save their life.
BBC News