NSW police accused of 'political censorship' over university protest arrests

University staff have criticised New South Wales police for being “undemocratic” and suppressing freedom of speech by repeatedly arresting protestors, even as people gathered in larger numbers at sporting events, cafes and classrooms.

An open letter, signed by over 100 staff at the University of Sydney, accused police of “political censorship” in breaking up multiple protests against the federal government’s changes to higher education.

“Universities exist to foster the free and open debate of ideas,” the letter said. “The University of Sydney campus should be a place where the right of students and staff to express their views is respected … without fear of police intimidation or reprisal.”

Last Wednesday, students and staff were arrested and fined for protesting in groups of fewer than 20 people, even as classes of 30 to 40 people went ahead elsewhere on campus.

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One academic, Dr Rob Boncardo, told Guardian Australia that at one point, a police sergeant told them that people eating lunch were allowed to stay, but protestors would be arrested.

Demonstrators were protesting against the federal government’s changes to university fees, which would see the cost of some degrees double, and job cuts at universities that have now totalled more than 11,000 this year.

Organisers said attendees on Wednesday wore masks, were never allowed to be in groups larger than 19 and were all spaced between 50 to 200 metres apart.

“Meanwhile, contact sports, shopping malls, public transport … are all up and running, with the public encouraged, but not required, to wear face masks,” the letter said. “At the University of Sydney, we are now allowing face-to-face, indoor tutorials of up to 30 students at a time.”

Boncardo, who teaches English and European studies, said some attendees were threatened with arrest during the protest outdoors, but then had to teach in classrooms of up to 40 people indoors.

He said police told him the small groups of fewer than 20 people were illegal because they were organised for “a common purpose”.

“The quite absurd scene we saw was of a large sergeant with a loudspeaker on the law building’s lawns saying: ‘If you are here to have lunch, you can stay, if you are here to protest, you have to move on.’

The open letter from staff said this “unambiguously constitutes political censorship” in how it targeted protestors.

“There are relatively large numbers of people gathering to eat indoors [on campus]. The way the virus transmits, being outdoors is very low on the risk scale and being indoors is higher,” Boncardo said.

Dr Nick Riemer, another academic, said police were creating a “threatening environment” on campus, where students feared being fined or arrested for expressing their views.

“The university can’t be a location for the open debate of ideas if it is constantly subjected to large numbers of police whenever students try and express a political opinion,” he said.

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“They are expressing views about their education, their own future [and] the message they are getting is that if they do that, they risk getting arrested and fined. But they can congregate to watch football, in cafes and in classrooms.

“The minute they dare to express a political view, they face the full repressive force of the NSW police. It should be a very grave concern to anyone who is committed to a democratic society.”

Boncardo, who is a member of the Usyd Casuals Network and the National Tertiary Education Union, said growing class sizes also meant that “the university has not hesitated to put 35 to 40 people in a single classroom or tutorial”.

“I have colleagues who were moved on by police, who had to double back and go sit in a classroom with 30 to 35 students, enclosed. A whole bunch of the people involved were moved on from a socially distanced outdoors activity, and have to perform their job in a tiny odd room with 30 odd students.”