Jordan Devlin’s friends and family say he’s locked in his cell 23 hours a day, strip-searched by prison authorities twice every 24 hours and isn’t allowed to speak with his loved ones.
The British government is denying the Antrim man basic rights, they say, because of the charges he’s facing. Devlin is among a group of pro-Palestinian activists standing trial over an incident at an Elbit Systems facility near Bristol last August.
Elbit Systems is the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) largest weapons supplier. It has provided much of the equipment the IDF uses in Gaza in a campaign that has led to International Criminal Court arrest warrants for Israeli officials and an International Court of Justice investigation into allegations of genocide. The Ditch has reported on Irish and international businesses that have supplied parts to the company.
Devlin and others – Samuel Corner, Charlotte Head, Leona Kamio, Fatema Rajwani and Zoe Rogers – are accused of aggravated burglary, criminal damage and violent disorder. Samuel Corner is also accused of causing grievous bodily harm to a police officer.
All have denied the charges at their trial which began last week. They are the first six of the Filton 24 – a group of activists arrested in connection with the 6 August incident – to stand trial.
On the first day of their trial last Monday authorities transferred Jordan Devlin to Belmarsh, Britain's highest security prison, isolating him from others, his sister Brogan told The Ditch.
"They put him on public protection so he can't speak to anyone," she said. "They often don’t have vegetarian food so he can't eat. They're x-raying him and strip-searching him twice a day. He's freezing too.”
Jordan’s situation has deteriorated with each move between facilities, Brogan said. Starting at Wormwood Scrubs, then Wandsworth, and now Belmarsh, prison authorities have progressively restricted his ability to make calls, receive visitors, and hold employment. "It's an uphill battle constantly, trying to get them to even recognise basic rights," she said.
According to Brogan and two other sources close to the Filton 24, Jordan isn't the only activist being denied his rights – the mistreatment extends right across the group. "They've all had their mail withheld. Visits are blocked. Jordan is locked up 23 to 23 and a half hours a day. Anything he's made, even art projects, is confiscated," Brogan said.
‘We just assume they’re recording and listening’
Francesca Nadin, a former Palestine Action prisoner who spent nine months on remand before her own trial, can attest to the conditions Jordan Devlin and others are reportedly experiencing.
The conditions for defendants who find themselves travelling between court and Bronzefield, a prison on the outskirts of Surrey holding several of the activists facing trial, are particularly harsh, she said. "They have four hours a day driving back and forth in the prison van," she said, speaking to The Ditch.
"They get woken up at five o'clock in the morning. They might not get back till after nine o'clock at night. They might not be able to have a shower. They barely get any food."
Prisoners with special dietary requirements sometimes get no food at all, Nadin said, describing her experiences in prison and on trial. “And they're stuck downstairs under the court in cold cells for hours on end," she said. “They often arrive late because of disorganised prison transport which leaves little time to prepare with their barristers.”
That means that before trial defendants struggle to put together the strongest legal defence possible. "They can't do the research they need to – there's so much censorship of the information that they need that's relevant to their case by the prison," Francesca said. She said video appointments with barristers last only half an hour and questioned how private they were .
"We can just kind of assume that they're recording and listening to all these video calls, which isn't the same when you have physical meetings," she said.
Brogan says the conditions prisoners face stem from Britain's decision to proscribe Palestine Action. The designation gives authorities powers to restrict the defendants' rights, she said.
"The guards have these powers that they can just treat them however they want in prison and they don't have to answer to anything or anyone because they're, like, oh it's the security risk," she said.
The six defendants weren’t able to communicate with their lawyers and family for days after their arrests and terrorism police questioned them day and night without legal representation, Francesca, Brogan and other sources close to the group told The Ditch.
A judicial review of the British government's decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation is due to begin tomorrow at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. Palestine Action was proscribed under the Terrorism Act 2000 in July 2025.
Hunger strike enters fourth week
As an act of protest against their conditions and terrorist designation, six activists from the Filton 24 have now been refusing food for nearly a month. The strikers are Amu Gib, Heba Muraisi, Jon Cink, Kamran Ahmed, Teuta T Hoxha and Qesser Zurah.
Zurah, Cink and Gib are being held at Bronzefield prison, Muraisi at New Hall, Hoxha at Peterborough and Ahmad at Pentonville, Novara Media reported. All six are calling for the release of all Palestine Action detainees pending trial, the lifting of the group's proscribed status and the shutdown of every Elbit Systems facility operating in Britain.
Writing in the Irish Independent last weekend author Naoise Dolan gave further updates from advocacy group Prisoners for Palestine on the ongoing hunger strikes – as well as the condition of the strikers – which have received little media coverage in Ireland.
“Cink fainted during an attempted blood test. Others were reportedly denied medical attention. Prison authorities are said to have told Zurah they would not consider her to be on hunger strike if she drank water,” she wrote. “Muraisi was ‘dragged out’ to work despite her deteriorating condition.”
The strike has drawn statements of solidarity from Bernadette Devlin McAliskey and Sally Rooney. “It is a basic principle of justice that no one should have to spend years in prison awaiting trial when they have not been found guilty of any offence. Likewise, anyone who is in prison should be permitted to read and write freely without the interference of administrators,” wrote Rooney.
The 32 Palestine Action activists held in British prisons include several who have been on remand far longer than the typical six-month period, with some expected to reach two years in custody before their trials begin.
The trial continues.
Though Jordan Devlin is an Irish citizen the Irish government hasn’t intervened.
