The Concordia Student Union council of representatives has voted in favour of providing legal support for both students and non-students alike.
In a vote held at their last regular council meeting, representatives voted overwhelmingly in favour of a motion that called on the government and university to drop all charges against students, pledged legal aide support for students arrested during the protest and to provide non-monetary legal support for all non-students arrested.
Although debated hotly, most councillors voted in favour of the motion because they felt that the ultmiate blame for the incidents laid with the administration’s decision to allow former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak on campus, sparking violent protests resulting in damage to university property and the eventual cancellation of the talk.
Most opposition to the decision was presented by councillors Noah Joseph, current co-president of Hillel Concordia, Naomi Sarna, John Gravel and Luis Diaz. They all voiced the opinion that the council should not support students engaged in violence at school.
The CSU has a current policy of providing legal aide to all students in need. Two students have been charged, and the CSU will help them.
Councilor Tom Keefer, who presented the motion, used putting protestors in contact with lawyers and providing them with legal information as examples of non-monetary support possibilities.
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