11 Students under Prosecution after Riot on Campus

66 students were arrested after Private Security Staff had intervened against a students' stand of the Turkey Communist Party (TKP) at the Beytepe Campus of Hacatepe University in Ankara.

All 66 students were released later on. 11 of them will be tried under charges of "resistance to civil servants" and "impeding education".

University student Nursel Güneş told bianet: "The incident on the campus emerged out of the police's attempt to intimidate the students in the prospect of 6 November out of intolerance against protests targeting the Justice and Development Party (AKP)".

 "When we arrived at the campus on Monday morning (26 October) we noticed many Private Security Staff members and also a lot of civil policemen. Even the private security staff from the night shift was still at the university".

Güneş told bianet about her experiences on the day of the incident:

"Before the YÖK (Higher Education Council) protests on 6 November, the students had prepared banners like "We do not leave the universities to AKP" and put them up at school. They installed a stand with a banner saying "The republic will life with socialism" outside of the Foreign Language Prep School building and the private security staff told them to remove the stand. After a discussion the privat security staff started to kick down the stand and the civil policemen joined them".

"After the intervention against the students, about 40 people gathered at the place of the incident. The police attacked the group and the incident escalated. In the uprising turmoil one student fainted under the hits of the truncheons".

Güneş continues, "In the course of the turmoil riot police forces arrived. When the police violence increased, the students sought shelter in the library. The police and private security staff blocked the library. They kept the students inside for about 2 hours".

"The police threw tear gas bombs into the library. Some windows broke. In the meantime about 400 students and members of the academic staff had gathered in front of the library. They started to protest against the police and private security staff by shouting slogans. We wanted to speak to somebody from the university administration. After a lot of time had passed, Rectorate General Secretary Turhan Menteş announced that the incident developed because a police officer had been attacked with a knife".

However, Güneş reports, "But we realised that the number of police and private security had considerably increased before the incident. This attack was planned".

"The police arrested 66 students from the library and took them to buses. The crowd demanded to release the arrested students and for the police to leave the campus. When they did not take any noticed and moved on to take the arrested students to a police station, the crowd cut off their way".

Güneş recalls, "The police threw tear gas bombs towards the crowd and also to the lecture room, cafeteria and canteen".

At the same time it has been reported that the health situation of the police officer who had been wounded in the leg is well. (BÇ/VK)