People associated with Palestine Action in British prisons are facing worsening conditions and arbitrary punishments after the group’s proscription as a terrorist organisation, their families and lawyers said.
The direct action group was banned under the Terrorism Act in July, making it a criminal offence to be a member of or show support for the organisation.
Friends, lawyers and relatives of Palestine Action prisoners held at HMP Bronzefield and HMP Peterborough told Middle East Eye that before the ban, there had already been efforts by prison officers to isolate them from their co-defendants.
In the wake of the proscription, however, they said these efforts intensified, with staff displaying increasingly hostile behaviour towards Palestine Action prisoners and referring to them as “terrorists”.
Several prisoners known as “the Filton 24” – a group of activists currently held on remand in connection with an action targeting an Elbit Systems factory in Bristol in August 2024 – were informed they had been recategorised as TACT prisoners, meaning inmates charged or convicted with offences under the Terrorism Act.
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Despite the Filton 24 defendants currently facing non-terror related charges, including aggravated burglary and criminal damage, the Crown Prosecution Service said that it would argue in court that the offences have a “terrorist connection”, which could aggravate their sentences.
Though His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) says prisoners need to be informed they have been re-categorised in a “timely and appropriate manner”, lawyers and relatives said this has not been formally communicated to the prisoners in writing.
Nonetheless, they said, officers have referred to them as TACT prisoners or “terrorists”, and cited this as justification for the tightening restrictions.
The Ministry of Justice told MEE that “prisoners are not notified in writing of their classification” and that “information on Palestine Action’s status as a terror organisation has been issued to governors”.
‘They’re not convicted criminals, they’re not convicted terrorists, but they’re being held under the most draconian conditions possible’
– Simon Pook, Filton 24 lawyer
Zoe Rogers, a Filton 24 detainee held at Bronzefield, and her co-defendants noticed an immediate shift after proscription.
They were removed from the evening gym slot, where they had enjoyed meeting, and their fresh air times were rescheduled – meaning that Rogers lost all contact with her co-defendants.
“It was instantly obvious they wanted to change something,” Clare Hinchcliffe, Rogers’ mother, told MEE.
“They tried to separate them in bizarre ways,” she said. “I have seen a decline in Zoe’s mental health, literally from the moment that the proscription kicked in.”
Defendants also found that their visits were sometimes staggered, to avoid them meeting in the visitors’ hall.
Within a few days of the ban coming into force, they noticed that the function through which prisoners book visits had disappeared from a computer system.
According to Hinchcliffe, when Rogers submitted a complaint about the function being removed, the head of security at Bronzefield, Yvonne Cooper, told her: “We can take the visit function away from you, and we can put it back, and we do not have to tell you why.”
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After about three days, the function reappeared without explanation.
“It’s very clear that there was a prison policy to say these prisoners are political and we will treat them differently,” Hinchcliffe said.
Simon Pook, a lawyer representing several Filton 24 defendants, said that the prison’s guidelines for the management of Palestine Action detainees are opaque.
“There’s no clear policy communicated to my clients on a consistent basis, nor any reason why they are being held under terrorism conditions,” he said, adding that: “It’s certainly our clients’ view that things have got worse.”
“They are criminal prisoners but the state is treating them as if they’re terrorist prisoners, but there is no clear line. It differs depending on what prison you’re in, and day to day, which staff are working and what their interpretation of the rules are,” he added.
“They’re not convicted criminals, they’re not convicted terrorists, but they’re being held under the most draconian conditions possible.”
HMPPS policy states that “instructions or practices” that limit the activities of unconvicted prisoners “must provide only for the minimum restriction necessary”.
A spokesperson for HMP Bronzefield and HMP Peterborough said: “Whilst we can’t comment on individuals, all prisoners are managed in line with the policies and procedures governing the entire UK prison estate.
“This includes specialist multi-agency processes, led by the government, to assess individual risks and security status.”
Solitary confinement
Audrey, a former Palestine Action prisoner held at Bronzefield who wished to remain anonymous, told MEE that prison officers sought ways to separate co-defendants as much as possible.
“There used to be multiple prisoners on the same wing. They’ve really made an effort now to separate them, despite there not being a non-association order on paper,” she said.
The shift also manifested in less overt ways. Hinchcliffe said that staff running the prison gym would hand out arbitrary punishments to Palestine Action prisoners for laughing too loudly or hugging each other.
On 15 August, the campaign group Prisoners for Palestine staged a protest outside Bronzefield in solidarity with the imprisoned activists.
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Subsequently, two Palestine Action prisoners were accused of “inciting a protest” for chanting from their cells, though Audrey insisted the entire wing participated.
“I was on the phone with some of them. I could hear it from inside the prison, the entire wing was chanting altogether. And yet, funnily enough, it’s only these two political prisoners on the wing who were targeted for it,” Audrey told MEE.
She said the two activists were later accused of “passing contraband” to one another when one prisoner handed the other a book containing cat photos.
When the pair were instructed to return to their cells, they refused and locked arms. They were subsequently put into “care and separation cells” – effectively solitary confinement – for “inciting a protest”.
One of the prisoners was held in solitary for four days, with no change of clothes or underwear, no bedding, or a toothbrush, according to Hinchcliffe.
Following the protest, Rogers reported heightened hostile behaviour from prison officers towards Palestine Action detainees.
This involved issuing punishments without warning or adequate grounds and placing prisoners on “basic status”, which limits their movements and privileges.
‘Extremist ideology’
T Hoxha, a Filton 24 prisoner held at HMP Peterborough, launched a hunger strike in August in response to a slew of restrictions imposed after the ban on Palestine Action.
These included her removal from her role in the library, suspension of her recreational activities and the withholding of her mail.
When Hoxha challenged the decision, prison authorities repeatedly failed to give her an explanation.
Relatives and lawyers said she was later told by counter-terrorism police that she had been removed from her library role as she was considered “too dangerous” to mix with other prisoners because of her “extremist ideology”.
In a letter on 29 August, the head of female residents at Bronzefield cited Palestine Action’s proscription as the reason for Hoxha’s removal from her library work.
MEE has obtained an audio recording of Hoxha reading the letter aloud.
“The offences you were held on remand for, and their link to the name of the group impact roles that are considered appropriate for you,” she is heard saying.
“The library orderly role is not considered appropriate for you to hold.”
According to Audrey, Hoxha and two other Filton 24 defendants held at Peterborough said they had been individually approached by staff who said they were from the Joint Extremism Unit, which is jointly run by HMPPS and the Home Office.
The staff reportedly told them they had been recategorised as terrorists.
In one case, an officer warned other prisoners not to associate with a Palestine Action activist because she was deemed a terrorist.
“She felt very isolated as a result,” Audrey told MEE.
Prisoners for Palestine published on Instagram a recording of a call made by a “concerned citizen” to Peterborough regarding Hoxha’s treatment.
A member of the prison’s staff is heard saying “being a member of Palestine Action is a criminal offence”.
Baptist minister James Grote was arrested outside his church while holding a sign protesting the ban on Palestine Action and condemning the ongoing genocide in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/pZ80y68WM4
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) August 24, 2025
According to Audrey, Filton 24 prisoners have been subject to mail restrictions throughout their incarceration.
Pook, the lawyer, reported that his clients have been told by a counter-terrorism police representative that “he didn’t know why” their mail continued to be withheld.
“There’s an official list of where you should order your books and your stationery from. But even when that happens, they’re not getting the item sent to them,” Pook said.
HMPPS says terrorist prisoners or people held on remand for terror offences are subject to the Enhanced Contact Vetting (ECV) scheme, where the Joint Extremism Unit and counter-terrorism police vet their contacts.
None of the prisoners MEE is aware of were told they had been placed under the ECV.
The Ministry of Justice told Middle East Eye that “a wide range of capabilities” are deployed to “monitor and manage the unique risk posed by terrorism in custody, irrespective of ideology or association with proscribed groups”.
