The University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM) and the pro-Palestinian camp that has set up on its campus present their arguments at the Montreal courthouse on Friday. The university hopes to obtain a temporary injunction to enforce free movement on its grounds.
“UQAM is ready to tolerate the presence of occupants, but as long as we do not hinder free movement, access and exit from buildings, and we do not endanger the security of its premises and its occupants,” pleaded Friday morning Me Martin Côté, who represents the university in court. According to the establishment, the situation presents an urgent need to act.
The university is turning to the courts to try to dismantle parts of the pro-Palestinian encampment set up on the lawn of the Pierre-Dansereau Science Complex. UQAM announced Thursday the filing of an injunction, as did McGill University, in vain, recently.
Me Max Silverman, who represents the camp, affirmed that the fears expressed by UQAM are “only suppositions”. According to the lawyer, the demonstrators “created emergency exits in accordance with the instructions of the Montreal Fire Department” as of May 20, and security measures are in place at the encampment, where a “spirit of collaboration and cooperation” reigns. ‘listen “.
Question of perimeter
According to UQAM, the encampment, called “Al-Aqsa Popular University”, poses an attack on its property rights. “The situation has only intensified […] we saw the perimeter of the camp which has grown in recent days,” added Me Martin Cote.
Judge Louis-Joseph Gouin intends to deliver his judgment no later than Monday morning. He said he was “very sensitive” to the idea of creating a security perimeter around the camp, which is currently enclosed in an interior courtyard on the campus. “It seems to me that freeing three meters along the buildings is safe for everyone,” said the judge.
However, imposing such a security corridor would put the camp in danger, according to Me Max Silverman, who represents the pro-Palestinian demonstrators who pitched their tents on the UQAM campus. “This is in effect dismantling the encampment, or at least making it very vulnerable,” he argued, adding that reducing the encampment would expose it “to counter-demonstrations from the extreme right.”
With Henri Ouellette-Vézina, The Press