In the wake of the Palestine solidarity encampment at Lancaster University, the university management has singled out one student for disciplinary measures. We stand with Joe - no repression of protest!

Joe is among hundreds of students who have participated in the encampment and related actions, demanding that the university end ties with BAE Systems, an arms company manufacturing weapons for Israel. The university has refused to engage with students and instead responded with repression, including a violent assault by security guards against students protesting a University Council meeting on 16th May.

On the 4th June, Joe was suspended from University and banned from entering campus for his involvement in protest actions related to the encampment. His degree has been withheld, he has missed graduation, and has been unable to apply for jobs - resulting in severe stress, financial hardship and uncertainty. The university also reported Joe to the police, who declined to press charges.

On Monday 16th September, Joe faces a disciplinary board on charges including 'anti-social behaviour', 'threats to health and safety', 'unauthorised use of university property', 'disruption of academic activities' and 'bringing the university into disrepute'. The university has threatened potential consequences of these charges including the possibility that Joe's degree is permanently refused. This severe consequence is wildly disproportionate and unjust, and unprecedented in the context of university encampments nationally.

Students have the right to protest and take political action against their university. The encampment represents hundreds of students and staff who are appalled at Lancaster University's refusal to end its relationship with BAE Systems even as genocide unfolds in Palestine. Joe has been scapegoated and targeted with severe consequences in order to silence Palestinian solidarity and dissuade other students from challenging the university's ties to arms manufacturers.

We call on Lancaster University to:

• immediately drop the charges against Joe
• cease disciplining or scapegoating pro-Palestine student activists
• respect the legal right of students to protest under the European Convention on Human Rights
• stop reporting student activists to the police.