EPFL calls on squatters to vacate university building
Published: Tuesday, May 7th 2024, 17:40
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Following the occupation of an entrance hall at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) by pro-Palestinian students since Tuesday afternoon, the university management has issued an ultimatum to the protesters. It demanded that the group of around 50 to 80 people leave the building by the evening.
"We hope that they will leave peacefully. If they don't vacate the building, the police will intervene," EPFL spokesman Emmanuel Barraud told the Keystone-SDA news agency on request. He did not give a time for the expiry of the deadline.
The university management regretted the protest in a press release. The demonstration had been organized by a "Student Coordination for Palestine", which is not a recognized association of EPFL. The university management is in dialogue with the associations recognized by EPFL. However, it rejects the form of action imposed by this group without legitimacy, it writes in the communiqué.
The EPFL management has tasked a delegation with entering into dialogue with the protesters and organizing a meeting with them on Wednesday, the statement continued.
Meanwhile, the participants in the protest decided at a meeting to leave the building voluntarily under two conditions. Firstly, they demanded a guarantee that no one would be arrested. Secondly, they demanded that the discussion on Wednesday also be opened up to people outside EPFL. They were waiting for a response from the EPFL management on these two points on Tuesday evening.
©Keystone/SDA
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