01:22US: Anti-Petraeus student protesters on trial for incitement to riot
US: Anti-Petraeus student protesters on trial for incitement to riot
Two students from City College at the City University of New York (CUNY) appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court Tuesday morning to be arraigned on charges of inciting a riot at their campus over the closure of a student centre and the appointment of former CIA director David Petraeus to the faculty.
Tafadar Sourov, 19, and Khalil Vasquez, 22, were suspended from the university on November 8 and subsequently brought up on unprecedented criminal charges by the District Attorney. They each face six misdemeanour changes that could result in a maximum sentence of one year in prison.
One defendant and college student, Tafadar Sourov, said: "The people are going to continue struggling to make sure that the communities of New York City have access to CUNY. Because that's what CUNY was made for, for working class and immigrant people in this city".
Tafadar and Khalil are considered student leaders in the Revolutionary Student Coordinating Committee (RSCC), the same organisation that led protests against retired General Petraeus earlier this autumn. The group was protesting his appointment as a professor at CUNY, citing his hiring as an increase in militarisation at the university. As a result, six members of RSCC were arrested September 17 for inciting a riot and resisting arrest as Petraeus left Macaulay Honors College.
01:22US: Anti-Petraeus student protesters on trial for incitement to riot
Two students from City College at the City University of New York (CUNY) appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court Tuesday morning to be arraigned on charges of inciting a riot at their campus over the closure of a student centre and the appointment of former CIA director David Petraeus to the faculty.
Tafadar Sourov, 19, and Khalil Vasquez, 22, were suspended from the university on November 8 and subsequently brought up on unprecedented criminal charges by the District Attorney. They each face six misdemeanour changes that could result in a maximum sentence of one year in prison.
One defendant and college student, Tafadar Sourov, said: "The people are going to continue struggling to make sure that the communities of New York City have access to CUNY. Because that's what CUNY was made for, for working class and immigrant people in this city".
Tafadar and Khalil are considered student leaders in the Revolutionary Student Coordinating Committee (RSCC), the same organisation that led protests against retired General Petraeus earlier this autumn. The group was protesting his appointment as a professor at CUNY, citing his hiring as an increase in militarisation at the university. As a result, six members of RSCC were arrested September 17 for inciting a riot and resisting arrest as Petraeus left Macaulay Honors College.