 Chris Henwood
BOSSES at the University of Birmingham have been urged to drop an injunction restricting students’ “legitimate right to protest”.
Public Interest Lawyers issued an open letter to university vice-chancellor Prof David Eastwood calling for the year-long injunction to be “discharged by consent”.
The injunction was issued last November after students occupied an abandoned university building in a series of protests over rising fees.
It stops the students who were involved carrying out further occupation-style protests on the university’s 250-acre campus.
Tessa Gregory, solicitor at Public Interest Lawyers, which is acting on behalf of University of Birmingham students, said: “We hope the university will urgently review its position and agree to discharge the injunction.
“It criminalises legitimate protest and is completely at odds with the university’s duty to respect and protect students’ right to freedom of expression and association.”
A university spokesman said peaceful protests on campus had continued and the university had an obligation to protect students and staff.
“We went to court, as a last resort, in order to obtain possession of a small residential building that was illegally occupied by protestors,” she added. “This followed repeated requests to the unlawful occupiers to leave the building and followed safety advice suggesting they were at risk.”
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Birmingham Mail
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