ULU & Sussex Uni occupations violently broken up by police

[Tony Gosling]

The Senate House occupiers had issued 
<http://novaramedia.tumblr.com/post/68991350047/statement-from-occupation-of-senate-house>ten 
demands, incorporating the three of the 
<http://novaramedia.com/2013/11/3cosas-university-of-london-workers-protest/>3 
Cosas Campaign, which has just won major 
concessions after a strong 
<http://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2013/12/03/harry-stopes/not-a-recognised-union/>two-day 
strikeby the IWGB union. The University of London 
Union, ULU, which is being shut down by 
university management, 
<http://anticuts.com/2013/12/04/occupysh/>issued 
a statement on the police raid:


Wave of repression against students

Five students at the University of Sussex are 
suspended, while police violently break up an 
occupation of Senate House in London.
http://libcom.org/news/wave-repression-against-students-05122013

Sussex
University management have singled out five 
students for their involvement in the 
anti-privatisation campaign, and a recent 
occupation in support of striking staff. The 
students have been suspended from their courses 
and excluded from campus. The reason given 
includes an alleged "threat to the safety and 
well-being of students". Sussex managers have 
repeatedly called in riot police to attack 
student protests on the campus. Under the 
University of Sussex regulations, the Vice 
Chancellor is granted arbitrary powers of 
suspension. Regulation 7(3)(e) states:

The Vice-Chancellor may refuse to admit any 
person as a student of the University without 
assigning any reason, and may suspend any person 
from any class or classes, and may exclude any 
person from any part of the University or its precincts.

The same power was used in 2010 to suspend the 
'Sussex Six', who were reinstated following a 
week-long occupation in defiance of a High Court 
injunction. The 
<http://www.sussexstudent.com/news/index.php?page=article&news_id=274413>University 
of Sussex Students Union and the 
<http://sussexagainstprivatization.wordpress.com/2013/12/05/official-statement-on-suspensions/>anti-privatisation 
campaign were quick to condemn the suspensions. 
The campaign statement stressed:

The suspended students are being scapegoated as 
the “ringleaders” of the campaign against 
privatisation. This assertion is factually flawed 
in that the anti-privatisation movement is, and 
has always been, horizontally organised and 
involved no leadership. As such, there are no 
positions or hierarchies within the anti-privatisation campaign.

A 
<https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/professor-michael-farthing-vice-chancellor-of-sussex-university-to-immediately-retract-the-suspension-of-five-sussex-students-which-began-on-the-4th-december>petition 
to reinstate the five had exceeded 2,000 
signatures within 12 hours.There will be 
<https://www.facebook.com/events/1425614747669227>a 
mass demonstration at 1pm Thursday in Library 
Squareagainst the suspensions, and in solidarity 
with the occupations elsewhere which have come under attack.

University of London
Meanwhile in London, an occupation of Senate 
House, University of London, was broken up by the 
Metropolitan Police's Territorial Support Group 
after only a few hours. No injunction or eviction 
order was granted and no warning was given. 
Witnesses say police simply stormed into the 
building, alongside university security, 
attacking occupiers and bystanders alike.

There were at least three arrests made in the confusion.

The police violence has been reported in 
<http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/dec/05/three-arrests-student-protest-university-of-london>the 
Guardian. The Senate House occupiers had issued 
<http://novaramedia.tumblr.com/post/68991350047/statement-from-occupation-of-senate-house>ten 
demands, incorporating the three of the 
<http://novaramedia.com/2013/11/3cosas-university-of-london-workers-protest/>3 
Cosas Campaign, which has just won major 
concessions after a strong 
<http://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2013/12/03/harry-stopes/not-a-recognised-union/>two-day 
strikeby the IWGB union. The University of London 
Union, ULU, which is being shut down by 
university management, 
<http://anticuts.com/2013/12/04/occupysh/>issued 
a statement on the police raid:

We are still investigating what happened inside, 
but initial reports indicate that protesters were 
assaulted by both police and security: thrown to 
the ground, kicked and punched, and dragged to the ground by their hair.

The raid is expected to swell the 
<https://www.facebook.com/events/262553407231117>'Cops 
off Campus' demonstration which had already been 
organised for 3pm Thursday in response to 
previous police aggression during the 3 cosas campaign.




Police officer accused of punching student at University of London occupation

Three arrests made after police clash with 
students who were occupying building in protest at how university is being run
    * 
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/dec/05/three-arrests-student-protest-university-of-london 

    * <http://www.theguardian.com/profile/kevin-rawlinson>Kevin Rawlinson
    * <http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian>The 
Guardian, Thursday 5 December 2013
<http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2013/dec/05/police-officer-punches-student-university-london-protest-video>Link 
to video: Police officer 'punches' student at University of London protest

Three student protesters were arrested on Tuesday 
after a group occupied a university building in 
<http://www.theguardian.com/world/protest>protest 
at how their university is being run. 
<http://www.theguardian.com/uk/police>Police said 
one was held on suspicion of assaulting an 
officer, but the demonstrators also accused police of assaulting them.

The protesters said they occupied part of the 
<http://www.theguardian.com/education/university-of-london>University 
of London Senate House headquarters. After being 
removed by police, they claimed they would 
continue their protest at a central London police 
station, where they believed their fellow protester was being held.

Video footage seen by the Guardian appeared to 
show a police officer punching one hooded 
protester in the face. In the footage, the 
demonstrator – who said his name was Tee Jay – 
fell to the ground and the crowd was pushed back.

Jay, 24, from Hackney, north London, said: 
"Nothing was said, the police were trying to 
clear the crowd of people. I turned my back to 
[the police officer] to kind of walk away, he 
pushed, I kind of turned round to see who it was – why are you pushing me?

"The punch came and I went straight to the floor, 
then I got up and left." When asked whether he 
would take action he added: "What can I do? Look 
how many of them there are. If I go up to that 
one officer they'd all just grab me again."

The University of West London mediaproduction 
student said he was part of the group that occupied part of Senate House.

One protester claimed she was pushed over by 
officers, who were "punching people 
indiscriminately". Philosophy student Helen Singh 
said: "We were walking away from the protest. I 
was pushed to the ground and my glasses smashed into three pieces."

The University of London Union (ULU), released a 
statement, which read: "We are still 
investigating what happened inside, but initial 
reports indicate that protesters were assaulted 
by both police and security: thrown to the 
ground, kicked and punched, and dragged to the ground by their hair."

And ULU President Michael Chessum wrote on 
Twitter: "Today's eviction 
 was one of the 
nastiest, most brutal I've seen on a campus in a 
long time. Spitting with anger."

In a statement, the 
<http://www.theguardian.com/education/students>students 
wrote: "Around 60 students staged a peaceful 
sit-in, issuing 10 demands. Their demands 
included a halt to privatisation, fair pay for 
workers and that a controversial plan to close the student union is cancelled."

In a statement released earlier in the day, the 
students claimed to have "taken over the main 
management corridor and the vice-chancellor's 
office in opposition to the way our university is 
being run and the way 
the<http://www.theguardian.com/education/higher-education>higher 
education sector as a whole is controlled".

The statement read further: "University of London 
management is behaving in a disgraceful and 
unaccountable manner, and we have no choice but to take direct action."

The Metropolitan police said that one person was 
arrested and held in custody on suspicion of 
assaulting a police officer. A spokesman said 
that two others were arrested to prevent a 
suspected breach of the peace and were later 
released. The spokesman said that an "approproate 
number of officers" were sent to reposnd with the 
demonstration, which began at "around 14.45".

Additional reporting by Dulcie Lee and Ben Jackson



remember this?
David Cameron: No turning back on tuition fees rise

Prime minister condemns students who tried to 
ransack Conservative HQ and criticises policing of riot
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/nov/11/cameron-no-turning-back-tuition-fees-rise


http://www.911forum.org.uk/board/viewtopic.php?p=166225#166225


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/private/diggers350/attachments/20131205/f2926cb9/attachment.html>