We are deeply concerned at the 15 month custodial sentence imposed on Friday 4th November on Zenon Mitchell Kotsakis, a second year politics student at Sussex University following his arrest at the education demonstration against fees and cuts on 10th November 2010.
This is one of a series of entirely disproportionate sentences given to student protesters recently under the Public Order Act, 1986, for the offence of 'violent disorder', not for harming another person, but for offences such as throwing a placard stick.
It is clear that such severe sentences are political and meant to deter young people from demonstrating in the name of equality and social justice. We cannot countenance our friend and fellow being held up as an example in order to scare people away from protest.
* We call on university senior managers to support their students when victimised by political sentencing.
* We call on the university to allow Zenon to continue his studies at Sussex.
* We demand the sentence be overturned and Zenon immediately released.
Updates
Reached 500 supporters
November 19, 2011
November 18, 2011
Seeing this momentum grow proves that people recognize the injustice being done to Zenon. It brings me a huge amount of comfort to know that so many others are just as outraged as I am by this harsh sentence.
November 18, 2011
Seeing one hundred people sign this in such a short time gives me hope for Zenon. I remember his face at the protest and thinking how wrong this sentence is feels even more shared now.
Reached 100 supporters
November 17, 2011
6 Comments
The government is terrified of young people speaking up. Sending him to prison for a march is heavy handed and purely meant to scare the rest of us.
I was at the demo too and the way they are treating everyone is disgusting. Justice for Zenon.
FREE ZENON NOW. This is a total joke.
They want to bury his life over a protest? Pathetic.
15 months is absolutely mental. He's just a student for god sake stop criminalizing kids for having a backbone.
Sign Petition
We never post to your account. Social sign-in is used only to verify your signature.
Add a comment?
Your signature will be added via . Tell others why you're signing — it's optional.
By signing, you accept iPetitions Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Share Petition
Don't stop at signing, share the petition link with friends to multiply our impact
Copy link or share directly
We are deeply concerned at the 15 month custodial sentence imposed on Friday 4th November on Zenon Mitchell Kotsakis, a second year politics student at Sussex University following his arrest at the education demonstration against fees and cuts on 10th November 2010.
This is one of a series of entirely disproportionate sentences given to student protesters recently under the Public Order Act, 1986, for the offence of 'violent disorder', not for harming another person, but for offences such as throwing a placard stick.
It is clear that such severe sentences are political and meant to deter young people from demonstrating in the name of equality and social justice. We cannot countenance our friend and fellow being held up as an example in order to scare people away from protest.
* We call on university senior managers to support their students when victimised by political sentencing.
* We call on the university to allow Zenon to continue his studies at Sussex.
* We demand the sentence be overturned and Zenon immediately released.
Updates
Reached 500 supporters
November 19, 2011
November 18, 2011
Seeing this momentum grow proves that people recognize the injustice being done to Zenon. It brings me a huge amount of comfort to know that so many others are just as outraged as I am by this harsh sentence.
November 18, 2011
Seeing one hundred people sign this in such a short time gives me hope for Zenon. I remember his face at the protest and thinking how wrong this sentence is feels even more shared now.
Reached 100 supporters
November 17, 2011
6 Comments
Let him go home. His whole future is being ruined by this ridiculous sentence.
The government is terrified of young people speaking up. Sending him to prison for a march is heavy handed and purely meant to scare the rest of us.
I was at the demo too and the way they are treating everyone is disgusting. Justice for Zenon.
FREE ZENON NOW. This is a total joke.
They want to bury his life over a protest? Pathetic.
15 months is absolutely mental. He's just a student for god sake stop criminalizing kids for having a backbone.
Help this petition grow
Share it with friends to help reach 1,000 signatures.
Sign Petition
We never post to your account. Social sign-in is used only to verify your signature.
Add a comment?
Your signature will be added via .
Tell others why you're signing — it's optional.
Signing with Google or Facebook verifies your signature instantly — no email needed.
By signing, you accept iPetitions Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Share Petition
Don't stop at signing, share the petition link with friends to multiply our impact
Petitions like this
Other petitions you might want to support
Scan to share
Anyone who scans this can sign the petition.
Let him go home. His whole future is being ruined by this ridiculous sentence.