University of Sussex:
No to summary suspensions
No to police brutality

At least five Sussex University students have been indefinitely suspended following the peaceful occupation of Sussex House, the main university administration building, on Wednesday 3rd March.

The Vice-Chancellor has overruled the normal disciplinary procedure and suspended the students before presenting them with any evidence of their alleged offences or giving them any opportunity to make their case. The students have been barred from entering campus and their access to computer facilities withdrawn.

This follows the heavy-handed response to the protest by police, who beat back students using dogs, batons and CS spray at the behest of University management

These are completely disproportionate attempts to silence peaceful protest on campus.

We call on the Vice-Chancellor to

· immediately reinstate all suspended students
· follow due process before issuing sanctions
· issue a condemnation of the police response to the protest

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