Uni of Liverpool threatens Abercromby Square student encampment with possession claim

The University of Liverpool has delivered a possession claim to the Students of Alareer Square protest group currently occupying an area of university-owned land on campus.

A set of legal documents were left tied to a lamppost in Abercromby Square on May 28th, detailing that the students will have to provide a face-to-face application for possession of the property on June 5th.

This High Court of Justice notice occurs in the wake of the university’s ongoing attempts to remove the student protesters from the area of land adjacent to the Sydney Jones Library.

The Students of Alareer Square group has deemed the claim to be “a violation of freedom of speech and protest rights” and called university management “cowards” for their action against their students.

In conversation with The Liverpool Tab, the group emphasised that “this eviction order sets a dangerous precedent for free speech and protest on campus”.

A spokesperson inside the encampment told us they believe “the university should be doing everything in its power to show support to the people of Palestine”

“Especially in the light of the shocking escalation in violence over the last few weeks” they continued.

“Instead, it [the university] is using its energy to punish students and remove protests from campus”.

The encampment in Abercromby Square has been in place since March 19th, organised by students who are actively protesting against the University of Liverpool’s investment in arms suppliers during the current conflict in Gaza.

In previous letters delivered to the group, the university demanded for the removal of the tents and gazebos from the privately-owned land, and claimed the protesters were exhibiting “intimidating” behaviour on campus.

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The Students of Alareer Square have since responded to the possession claim with a statement on their Instagram page.

The group said: “Not only is this a violation of freedom of speech and protest rights, something which is apparently ‘enshrined’ into UoL policy, but it further highlights the UoL management for what they are”.

The statement labels the university’s management team as “cowards” who “would rather incur extensive legal costs and take their own students to court than divest” from supporting arms companies.

“They claim we have disturbed the university community with our presence” they continued.

“But we must say in response that the only thing disturbing to students at this university is the management’s decision to continue financial and research links”.

The statement underlined that the group will not be intimidated by the university’s legal threats, and that they remain adamant in their refusal to vacate Abercromby Square.

“If the university thinks they can scare us away from protesting with legal jargons, bailiffs, and police brutality then they got us wrong.

“If they think that removing us from Alareer Square will stop us protesting, they got us wrong. Because unlike the Senior Leadership Team, who care only about profit, we actually stand for something”.

The University of Liverpool delivered its “final notice” to the encampment last month, which stressed that failure to comply with the demand to remove the protesters from the area would leave “no alternative but to issue formal court proceedings to recover possession”.

The students are now faced with a possession order that could dismantle the encampment if successful.

Since April 2024, the Students of Alareer Square protest group have conducted multiple demonstrations in solidarity with Palestine, including encampments and disrupting meetings held by members of UoL management.

The group had secured discussions with the University of Liverpool, but have since continued to protest against their engagement with and funding of arms companies supplying materials and weapons to Israeli military groups.

Their demands remain the same, requesting the university to cut ties with these firms, as well as to make more active attempts to provide education to those affected by the conflict in Gaza.

A spokesperson from the University of Liverpool told The Liverpool Tab: “We respect the right of our staff and students to protest about any issue, peacefully and lawfully, but this must be balanced against safeguarding the university’s activities and operations, as well as the rights of others to go about their business safely, unimpeded and free from intimidation”.

They continued to say that “protest activities at several locations across campus have resulted in reports of some members of our community feeling intimidated and others being significantly disrupted during the course of their studies or work.

 “We have therefore applied for a possession order to the court to enable the removal of the current encampment, which was established without permission, and to safeguard other campus spaces from such activity”.

Featured images via Instagram @lvrpool_enc