Judge Denies Plea Deal For 13 Princeton U. Pro-Gaza Protestors

PRINCETON, NJ – The 13 Princeton University students who were arrested from Clio Hall during the pro-Gaza protest, were denied a plea deal by a judge on Tuesday.

The hearing was held at the Princeton Municipal Court.

The 13 were arrested on April 29 after they briefly occupied Clio Hall, demanding a meeting with University officials to discuss divestment from Israeli business interests.

Two students were arrested on April 25 while setting up tents at the Gaza Solidarity Encampment. These students however were granted a plea deal by the judge.

The arrested students were barred from campus and evicted from university housing.

In a media statement, the students said they were surprised when the judge refused to grant a plea deal to the 13.

“While Princeton claims that they are “reducing the impact” of our arrest, they have refused to ask the prosecutor to drop charges against us in a protracted court case that has already caused significant disruptions to our studies and to our lives,” the students said.

During the court proceedings, the judge asked if the protestors gave the staff at Clio Hall 60 seconds to leave, according to the Bergen Record.

Explaining why he chose to grant a plea deal to two students and rejected the others, the judge said there was a difference between putting up a tent and telling an administrative aid to leave in 60 seconds.

In their statement, students said they had no option but to seek a plea agreement to resolve the case because of Princeton’s harsh response to the protest. The University has sanctioned students with four years of disciplinary probation and a postdoctoral researcher, Sam Nastaste, remains barred from campus.

“The criminalization of our protest is only one example of a series of repressive measures Princeton has taken to silence calls for Palestinian liberation on campus, and to avoid accountability for its complicity in the ongoing occupation and genocide. Over the last 5 months, Princeton has engaged in an active student repression campaign by limiting free speech, extra judiciously interrogating students, and increasing surveillance,” the students said.

“Princeton is using increasingly authoritarian measures to silence protest, but we are not deterred. We continue to demand complete financial divestment and dissociation from Israel's genocidal project of apartheid and ethnic cleansing in the occupied Palestinian territories and wider region.”

The next hearing is scheduled for Nov. 5.

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