Student protesters have defied a High Court injunction by occupying a campus cafe.
The University of Sussex activists took over the Arts Piazza Cafe following an afternoon demonstration yesterday (April 16).
The protesters, who are fighting the privatisation of 235 campus jobs, were last month served with an injunction aimed at preventing them from occupying university buildings.
Although the protesters left the cafe at around 6pm, they issued a call to arms to fellow supporters.
A spokesman for the group said: “This flash occupation demonstrates that we are not afraid to take action in support of our services.
“We will not be intimidated by management’s cowardly injunctions and attempts to stifle protest on campus.
“Through occupation we demonstrate to bidders that we will not welcome their presence on campus. Furthermore, any bidder interested in taking up a contract should consider this a warning shot.”
The group was evicted from the university’s Bramber House conference centre on April 2 after a 54-day occupation.
A university spokesman said yesterday: “While this was disrupting normal university activity and they were not in there with our permission, there were of course many other cafes and social spaces on campus which our 15,000 students and staff can use.
“This is the last week of our spring term and the vast majority of our students are attending their final lectures and seminars, and looking forward to the big sporting contest tomorrow against the University of Brighton.”
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