Advertisements after university occupations in Freiburg and Zurich
Published: Friday, May 17th 2024, 18:20
العودة إلى البث المباشر
ETH Zurich and the University of Fribourg have filed charges of trespassing following the pro-Palestinian occupations of the institutions' premises in recent days. In Fribourg, the activists gave up their occupation on Friday afternoon following a request from the police.
Around 50 people occupied the entrance hall of Pérolles University this week. They let an ultimatum to leave expire on Wednesday. At the start of the long Whitsun weekend, the activists now complied with the police's request.
Legally, however, the conflict is not yet over: As announced, the Rectorate has filed a criminal complaint for trespassing against the Coordination estudiantine Palestine collective, as confirmed by a university spokesperson on Friday at the request of Keystone-SDA. The Student Council of the General Student Body of the University of Fribourg (AGEF) condemned the violence in Gaza on Thursday, but at the same time distanced itself from the occupiers.
In Zurich, meanwhile, 28 internal and external people were charged with trespassing after gathering in the main building of ETH Zurich a week ago on Tuesday for a sit-in in support of the Palestinians. The university management did not tolerate the political protest. Some of the protesters then left the hall voluntarily. However, a hard core of 28 people remained seated and were subsequently checked by the city police, turned away and reported.
The university's media office confirmed on Friday that 23 of these people were outsiders. Five of the persons reported were ETH members. According to ETH information, four of them are registered as students at the university and one person is employed part-time. The students do not have to fear any academic sanctions, it was further stated.
UZH no longer wants to tolerate occupations
Meanwhile, there was also a sit-in at the main building of the University of Zurich (UZH) this week. No charges were brought there. The demonstrators left voluntarily shortly after an ultimatum expired. However, UZH will not tolerate any further occupations: Following calls for new actions in connection with the war in the Middle East, the police have been controlling access to the university's main building since midday on Friday, as the police confirmed on request.
The Executive Board of the University of Zurich will not accept any disruption to university operations, it announced on Friday afternoon. In its statement, it referred to the tense situation, which is also evident at other universities and colleges.
Buildings in Basel, Bern and Lausanne evacuated
Earlier on Thursday evening, the ETH Lausanne (EPFL) campus occupied by pro-Palestinian activists had been cleared by the police. The university management had previously called on the approximately 70 people to leave the campus as quickly as possible.
A day earlier, the occupations of buildings at the universities of Bern, Basel and Lausanne (Unil) were ended. In Bern and Lausanne, the demonstrators followed the police's request to leave the buildings early.
In Basel, the police cleared the occupied Bernoullianum on Wednesday afternoon and the university filed a criminal complaint. In Zurich and Geneva, the occupations had already been dispersed by the police. Meanwhile, pro-Palestinian activists continued the occupation at the University of Neuchâtel.
Student association condemns occupations
The protests began almost two weeks ago in Lausanne. They then spread to several universities throughout Switzerland.
The Association of Swiss Student Bodies (VSS) has condemned the current occupations of Swiss universities in connection with the Middle East conflict. With some discriminatory demands and calls for violence, the current student movements have "lost all legitimacy".
Calls for a blanket boycott of scientific collaboration, such as those made by some of the occupants, must be rejected. Academic freedom means fact-based diversity of opinion, the association stated.
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