Charges filed after occupation of the University of Lausanne
Published: Thursday, Nov 14th 2024, 12:20
Retour au fil d'actualité
The University of Lausanne (Unil) has filed a criminal complaint following the pro-Palestinian protests by its students last May. The reasons for this are the publication of a list of professors who had links with Israeli universities, as well as damage to property.
The Vaud public prosecutor's office confirmed to the news agency Keystone-SDA a corresponding report by the French-speaking Swiss television station RTS on Thursday. It stated that it had received a complaint from Unil (about the list) and a criminal complaint (about damage to property), both of which are the subject of criminal proceedings.
The pro-Palestinian collective active at Unil published the names of researchers and professors with links to Israeli universities or the Israeli regime in the list it had compiled. Unil justified its criminal complaint to RTS by stating that it was concerned about the impact of this publication on the privacy and personal freedom of the researchers exposed in this way.
Main claim rejected
Like several other universities in Switzerland and abroad, Unil was shaken by pro-Palestinian actions last spring. In particular, the entrance hall of the Géopolis building was occupied for around ten days, sometimes by several hundred students.
After several days of negotiations, the university management made some concessions to the students. Their main demand - namely an academic boycott of Israel - was rejected.
ETH Zurich and the University of Fribourg had already filed charges of trespassing in May following the pro-Palestinian occupation of premises. In Geneva, a complaint was withdrawn after the premises were cleared. In Neuchâtel and at EPF Lausanne, no legal action was taken.
©Keystone/SDA
French 
English 
German 
Spanish 
Arabic