Three of the seven Global Peace and Justice Auckland activists who were arrested at Mt. Eden Remand Centre today are being held in the Auckland Central police cells after refusing to sign bail papers.

All three are refusing food in solidarity with Iranian asylum seeker Ali Panah. Panah is on the fifty-first day of his hunger strike in protest at the government's refusal to grant him a temporary visa while it remains unsafe for him to return to Iran. The three are Simon Oosterman, Mengzhu Fu and Tyler Culpepper. They are expected to be released on Monday.

Protest spokesperson Omar Hamed who was arrested and released this afternoon is available for comment on 021 150 3597.