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The Independent Student Newspaper of Royal Holloway, University of London
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2013 Welcome Week Marred by SU Arrests BY ROSE WALKER FEATURES EDITOR
RHUL’s 2013 ‘Welcome Week’ concluded in dramatic circumstances on Friday 27 September when Surrey police carried out an operation within the Students Union building, during the final Fresher event of the week. The operation involved 2 police dogs and 15 police officers, who were a mixture of uniformed and plain clothes officers. Surrey Police’s Lead Media Relations Officer described the operation as ‘part of an intelligence-led operation aimed at disrupting the supply of illegal drugs. The passive drugs dog was used and a number of people present were subject to stop and search. A 19-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon and has subsequently been released on bail pending further enquiries. A second man, aged 23, was arrested at the scene and subsequently accepted a caution for obstructing a police officer.’ The Founder can report that the 23 year old man who was cautioned was Daniel Cooper, former president of SURHUL and the current Vice-President of ULU. He also holds life-time membership to SURHUL. Over the past fortnight, hugely conflicting reports surrounding Mr. Cooper’s arrest, and the specifics of the police operation that night, have come to light. Royal Holloway’s Anti-Cuts Alliance, a group set up in 2010 that describes itself as ‘RHUL students, alumni, lecturers, and staff and wider community united against cuts, fees, redundancies and privatisation’ have released two statements following the events of Friday night. The first, released on Saturday 28th September, broadly condemned the police action and the arrest of Mr. Cooper. A second
image credits: 2013 Peter Marshall: mylondondiary.co.uk
Protest: The Anti-Cuts Alliance ‘Cops Off Campus’ demonstration
statement, released on Monday 30th September, accused the police opera tion of racial profiling and of creating an intimidating and threatening environment. In particular, it focused on the circumstances surrounding Mr. Cooper’s arrest. ‘The Vice-President of the University of London Union (ULU), Daniel Cooper, objected to the operation and attempted to obstruct the search of two black students. Seven police wrestled Mr. Cooper to the ground and arrested him.’ The Founder has received information from a student who witnessed Mr. Cooper’s interactions with police. In a statement they said, ‘SU security staff asked to search Daniel, and he refused. He was taken to the cloak-room, where he tried to punch a police officer. They
restrained him, and he was arrested.’ Mr. Cooper was held at Staines police station for 16 hours and was released after accepting a caution. Various conflicting reports about how much prior knowledge the college, the SU and its officers had of the police operation have also surfaced within the last week. On Monday 30 September, the college released a statement concerning the events of the previous Friday. It primarily addressed the issue of who had been responsible for authorising the exercise; ‘The police had been invited at the request of the Student’s Union Commercial Services team, with the Sabbatical Officers, Student Security Officer and Interim General
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Manager of the Student’s Union made aware of the exercise. A similar exercise was carried out in June, and as part of the Bar Hours agreements this year, when it was agreed that we would continue to work with the police as we had done previously.’ On Tuesday 1 October, during the first General Meeting of the academic year, all of the SU’s sabbatical officers engaged in a Q&A with all those present in order to clarify details surrounding the events of that night. SURHUL’s President Amarbeer Singh began the discussion with a brief introductory statement. In it, he said that the sabbatical officers had been told on Friday evening of the police presence, but not given details of the operation. Story Continued on page three...
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