Protests and Repression by ETH

In May 2024, students and activists held two peaceful sit-ins within ETH’s halls to demand disclosure of ETH collaborations with institutions that participate in Israel’s illegal apartheid, occupation and war crimes against the Palestinian population, in order to assess a need to divest from these, in line with international law. The students’ message was clear: NO TECH FOR GENOCIDE. They refused to be made complicit in human rights violations through the development of dual-use technologies at the university.

The students were peacefully sitting on the floor, chanting slogans and holding up banners while repeatedly asking to dialogue with the administration, who refused to acknowledge their demands and called the police to forcibly remove the protesters one by one. Their various attempts to address the subject of Palestine and ETH’s legal and moral duties in this regard have been consistently censored. The protesters were explicitly opposed to all forms of racism, discrimination and violence, and remained peaceful, yet they were criminalised by their own university. Overall ETH pressed 40 charges against 37 protesters for trespassing and participation in a non-authorised demonstration.

Legal Situation

The protesting students had to decide between either going through a lengthy, expensive, and mentally challenging court case or plead guilty and suffer the consequences of a criminal record and guilty verdict with a fine. This criminal record has wide-ranging consequences, including reducing one’s ability to find employment, accommodation and pursue an education. Additionally, the students had to cover administrative costs of approximately 800 CHF and were fined on average 450 CHF for participating in a non-authorised demonstration, even though this right is protected under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Swiss Constitution. Some students felt compelled to accept the sentence, due to lacking financial resources to pursue an appeal or an uncertain residency status in the country, for fear of reprisals.

However, 17 students are currently engaged in appealing their sentences with the help of our organisation and a competent team of attorneys who are taking this issue to court. To win the appeal and obtain acquittal, the students might have to fight up until the Swiss Supreme Court (Tribunal Fédéral) or even higher to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Every legal procedure requires paying administrative and court fees in advance, as well as covering the costs of the legal team that is defending the students.

Fundraising Estimates

For transparency, the calculation of the fundraising goal of the association for the protection of freedom of opinion VSM is the following:

40 charges have been pressed against 37 students.17 of them have contested the charges, while the other 20 have entered a guilty plea.

For those accepting the sentence, an average cost of 1250 CHF per person has been estimated, calculated as follows:

- 800 CHF administrative costs

- 450 CHF fine

Total costs for those who accepted the charges are therefore approximately 20 * 1250 CHF = 25'000 CHF.

This value is the first fundraising goal!

For the students who are contesting the criminal charges in court, the estimated average administrative costs are of 8000 CHF per person. This calculation excludes the cost of 1250 CHF * 17 = 21'250 CHF in case the students lose their lawsuit.

The total cost for the court proceedings are thus determined as follows:

8000 CHF * 17 = 136'000 CHF

This excludes the costs of the legal team’s work, which is working pro-bono.

To support the students paying the fines and those appealing their sentences, the minimal administrative total costs would be around:

136'000 CHF + 25'000 CHF = 161'000 CHF. 

Any additional money after administrative costs have been covered will be paid partly to the legal team in compensation for their work and otherwise donated to support the Palestinian-led rebuilding of Gaza’s educational sector and infrastructure.