A man in his 20s was arrested at Dublin City University (DCU) on Thursday during a protest against the visit of Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
A statement from the DCU BDS committee, which describes itself as “a student-led movement calling for the boycott, divestment and sanctioning of the Israeli apartheid state and justice for Palestine”, said protesters were met with “an intense Garda presence”.
“A group of protesters made up of DCU students and community members gathered at 9.30am this morning outside DCU Polaris Building to protest the arrival of Taoiseach Micheál Martin on campus,” it said.
“At approximately 10.45am, while several students were knocking on the window of the Polaris building, one of our members was unlawfully and violently arrested by the gardaí. This person asked the garda ‘Is this is a crime?’ and was explicitly told that it was not.
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“Immediately after this, the gardaí dragged our member to the ground, pinning them face down on the concrete.”
The statement said the group “repeatedly asked” gardaí for what offence the man was arrested, but that gardaí “refused to answer”.
“Our member was dragged on their knees to the Garda car,” the statement said. “This incident was recorded by multiple bystanders as well as on the body cameras of DCU security and gardaí.
“We are appalled by how DCU students were treated by the gardaí, DCU security and DCU administration for peacefully protesting on our own campus.
“The complicity of Taoiseach Micheál Martin and other TDs present at the event today is the real crime, not exercising our democratic right to peaceful assembly.”
In response to queries, a spokesman for the Garda said officers were in attendance to “maintain the peace and order”.
“Any Garda response in relation to evolving events is in keeping with a community policing model and graduated policing response taking into account relevant legislation and public safety,” he said.
“At approximately 10.30am, a man in his 20s was arrested for offences contrary to the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994 and detained at a Garda station in the Dublin Metropolitan Region.”
He said the man has since been charged and is due to appear before court at a later date.
“Ireland is a constitutional democracy and there is a constitutional right for citizens to express freely their convictions and opinions and to assemble peaceably, subject to statutory provisions,” the spokesman said.
“An Garda Síochána respects the right of citizens to exercise their constitutional rights; exercising such rights does not extend to committing breaches of statutory law.”
