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Irish Republican prisoners in Portlaoise prison have gone on a two-week hunger strike in support of a Palestinian doctor who they claim is being held in “appalling conditions” at Maghaberry prison in Co Antrim.
Dr. Issam Hijjawi, who is an outspoken activist for Palestinian rights and lives in Edinburgh, was arrested last month for his attendance at a meeting of suspected New IRA members in Omagh.
He was arrested as part of a police investigation into the activities of the New IRA and charged with a crime of preparatory acts of terrorism.
The 62-year-old man is the 10th person charged in the PSNI / MI5 investigation ‘Operation Arbacia’.
He was arrested at Heathrow Airport while attempting to leave the UK and transported to Belfast for questioning at Musgrave PSNI station.
His home in the Blackhall area of Edinburgh was also searched by Scottish Police officers. Dr. Hijjawi, whose family hails from the occupied West Bank, is the president of the Association of Palestinian Communities in Scotland.
In a statement, the Irish Republican Prisoner Welfare Association (IRPWA) said prisoners affiliated in Portlaoise in wings E3 and E4, Roe House in Maghaberry prison and Hydebank prison are on hunger strike.
The Association said: “Currently, due to Covid-19 restrictions, inmates entering Maghaberry Prison are placed in solitary confinement / isolation for two weeks. Dr. Hijjawi and his comrades have completed this arduous isolation and are now housed in the Republican landings. ”
However, they noted that due to a medical condition, Dr. Hijjawi was brought in for an MRI at the hospital and has once again been placed in isolation for two more weeks.
“They (the prison authorities) have forcibly and punitively isolated Issam for another two weeks in the filthy and dilapidated conditions that exist at Foyle House.
“Issam has multiple medical conditions and has now embarked on a hunger strike. We believe that putting (him) into isolation is both vindictive and a continuation of the petty and concerted attacks he has suffered since entering Maghaberry Prison. ”
The Association asked the prison management to show “common sense” and transfer Dr. Hijjawi back to Roe House, where “he needs to be cared for safely and humanely.”
Police authorities allege that he attended one of the two meetings that were intercepted by MI5, along with several prominent members of the Saoradh group, who are also alleged to be members of the New IRA.
He also traveled, sometime in 2018 to Lebanon and its capital Beirut, with Tyrone Republican leader Kevin Barry Murphy.
Dr. Hijjawi, who is represented by Phoenix Law, says he attended the meeting to give an update and political analysis on the current situation in Palestine.
The Belfast-based law firm represents seven of the 10 people arrested as part of the MI5 operation.
Independent Councilor and former Dublin Mayor Christy Burke, who took part in a protest in front of Kilmainham Gaol, said Dr Hijjawi was housed in Dickensian type accommodation and urgently needed to be relocated to the main prison for poor humanitarian reasons Health “.
In the 1970s, Cllr Burke served two terms in Portlaoise Prison on charges of IRA membership.
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