University of Copenhagen called in the police: »We were not treated like students, but like terrorists«

»We were not treated like students, but like terrorists.«

This is according to education student Özgür Yegah who is active in the student organization Students Against the Occupation. They [Özgür Yegah uses the pronouns they/them, ed.] are now criticizing the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) management, which called in the police to remove students during the organisation’s last two student protests.

The first time was on Wednesday 4 September. Here, Students Against the Occupation took possession of the Museum Building near Frue Plads square where the rector’s offices and the administration is located.

READ ALSO: Student protesters blockade central University of Copenhagen buildings

Several of the students were masked when they occupied the building and asked employees to leave their offices. The police were called in and showed up with automatic weapons and police dogs. Six protesters were arrested and taken to the police station.

One of them was Özgür Yegah, who reckons that it was »completely disproportionate« to call in the police for what they describe as a peaceful student protest:

It is very concerning that you have to be afraid of being arrested or expelled from your university because you are taking part in a student demonstration

Özgür Yegah, student

»This is completely outside the normal standards. There have previously been occupations and blockades at the university – among others at the Department of Psychology in 2022 and at the Humanities in 2019. The police were not involved then,« Özgür Yegah says.

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»We think it is important for university democracy that students have the right to protest and practice civil disobedience. It is very concerning that you have to be afraid of being arrested or expelled from your university because you are taking part in a student demonstration.«

If you are to look at it from the UCPH and staff perspective, can you understand why people felt unsafe when a group of masked people suddenly break into their workplace?

»We recognize that they may have felt unsafe, and we don’t want to take that experience away from them either,« Özgür Yegah says.

»But we made a point of telling them that we were students, that it was a student blockade, and that they had to leave the building. Quietly and calmly. Some people refused, and we didn’t do anything about it — we didn’t force anyone to do anything.«

Fear of reprisals

Last week the Prorector for Education Kristian C. Lauta announced that the occupation of the Museum Building would be »followed up by disciplinary action.« This was the same message when students at the end of May 2024 interrupted and disrupted a visit to UCPH by Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen (Moderates Party).

And the fear that participation in the organization’s activities will lead to personal consequences was precisely the reason why some students chose to conceal their identities in Wednesday’s blockade, explains Özgür Yegah.

»We still don’t know what the consequences are when management talks about ‘disciplinary action’. That is why some of us opted to conceal our identities. In addition, several of us have experienced being contacted by right-wing extremists if they have been seen at events like demonstrations,« says Özgür Yegah.

We don’t think we were treated like students, but like terrorists, which is grotesque

Özgür Yegah, student

Özgür Yegah themself was a few floors up when the police entered the building to expel the students.

»When we saw that they came in with dogs and weapons, we were really scared, so we closed the door to the room we were in. They asked us to come out with our hands behind our heads, and here we were met by a large group of policemen with guns, like something out of ‘Rambo’,« says Özgür Yegah who, with five others, was handcuffed and taken to the police station.

»We don’t think we were treated like students, but like terrorists, which is grotesque. Right now we are working on getting in touch with some volunteer therapists so that we can get some psychological crisis assistance. It was a traumatic experience.«

What have you considered in relation to the fact that the Museum Building is right next to the synagogue in Copenhagen?

»It is completely coincidental that UCPH’s leadership is located close to the synagogue, it has nothing to do with our actions. There is nothing anti-Semitic about our actions or our mission. Our goal has been very clear: We want UCPH to take part in an academic boycott of Israel.«

Özgür Yegah continues:

»It is a serious problem if the University of Copenhagen sees a pro-Palestinian demonstration by students as anti-Semitic. We made it clear why we were present in the Museum Building, and we strongly reject the claim that Students Against the Occupation has an anti-Semitic purpose. Especially when we are a student association that in many ways consists of some of the most marginalized students at the University of Copenhagen.«

Speak freely, but with responsibility

In a memo on KUnet (needs login) UCPH management states that the employees of the Museum Building had not »in any way« perceived the blockade as »a peaceful student protest«. They write:

»An employee who had come in for work early was threatened with being locked up in their office if they did not promptly leave the building.« Özgür Yegah rejects this to be true.

The action was unannounced, aggressive, anonymous and unwilling to explain itself

UCPH management

UCPH management writes further that the employees were met with »loud, aggressive shouts« and that they »were commandeered around by masked people.«

»It has been debated why the police were called. The answer is that it would have been utterly irresponsible not to call the police when we received reports as described above. For the sake of our employees and because the museum building is in Krystalgade, less than 100 meters from the synagogue in Copenhagen. The action was unannounced, aggressive, anonymous and unwilling to explain itself,« management writes and continues:

»The action was unannounced, aggressive, anonymous and unwilling to explain itself.  These are all fundamental breaches of the values of our community at the University. At a university, you speak freely, but responsibly. And you are not masked. You can be critical while respecting that others may hold different views. And you never – ever – act threateningly towards other people’s physical integrity.«

In its memo, the management emphasizes that the form of the 4 September action was different from the tradition of student blockades and occupations at the UCPH – partly because the students were masked.

Monday 9 September and the students were back on the Frue Plads square. This time they did not occupy any buildings, but blockaded the entrance to the management offices. No one was masked this time, but the police were yet again involved and students were removed from the blockades, says Özgür Yegah, and refers to a video on the Student Against Occupation Instagram, where a student who is not masked is removed by the police.

»We had been told that the reason the police got involved last time was the masking. So we told everyone that no one could be masked this time, and we did nothing but block the entrance,« says Özgür Yegah and continues.

»The police were there, but they didn’t do anything at first. But then apparently it was decided that we should be removed, and we don’t understand why.«

The University Post has asked UCPH management for an in-depth interview and to explain why the police were again called in to the blockade on 9 September. They did not wish a further interview.

What are the Students Against the Occupation demands?

The Students Against the Occupation group wants UCPH to implement an academic boycott of Israeli universities. If UCPH does not accept this demand completely, students instead hope for a dialogue over a partial boycott.

»UCPH is currently working with universities that operate in illegally occupied territories of the West Bank and contribute military infrastructure to Israel,” says Özgür Yegah.

»Right now, UCPH is not even doing the bare minimum like, for example, halting the cooperation with institutions operating on occupied land.«

In its memo on KUnet, management states that »academic boycotts are not the answer«.

»However, it does not mean we can’t discuss whether the University should boycott Israel. Everyone is at liberty to debate, protest against or, for that matter, defend the University’s position concerning researchers’ collaboration with researchers at Israeli universities. The premise for the University is precisely that we must be able to accommodate and protect wide differences and internal disagreement.« they write, and continue:

»This means two things: Firstly and obviously, actions such as what happened on 4 September are unacceptable. And, secondly, the University should not take a stand on behalf of the community when there is internal disagreement.«