UN human rights experts said on Tuesday they had protested to Switzerland after a group of students was sentenced for trespassing after taking part in pro-Palestinian protests at a Swiss-funded university.
Around 70 students at the Swiss university ETH Zurich took part in a peaceful sit-in in May 2024 as part of student demonstrations in several cities during the Gaza genocide before being dispersed by police.
Students who took part in the protests were opposing the Swiss facility's partnerships with Israeli universities, the UN experts said.
"Peaceful student activism, on and off campus, is part of students’ rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, and must not be criminalised," the UN experts said, adding that they had written to the Swiss government and the university to raise the issue.
A spokesperson for the Swiss foreign ministry confirmed it had received the message and that it would respond in due course. An ETH Zurich spokesperson did not immediately respond.
Five students have so far been sentenced for trespassing, resulting in suspended fines of up to $3,516 (2,700 Swiss francs), legal fees of over $2,609 (2,000 Swiss francs) and a criminal conviction on their records which could discourage future prospective employers, the UN experts said.
Ten others who appealed the charges await sentencing and two others were acquitted, they said.
