10 Jul Former student brings legal claim against Bangor University for violating her right to freedom of expression over Palestine protest

09 July 2025 – Aishah AlBader, a former graduate student, has taken the first step in civil proceedings against Bangor University. Ms AlBader’s claim arises from her graduation last year when she intended to peacefully protest her own university’s investments in companies complicit in human rights violations against Palestinians and the unlawful occupation of Palestine.

Ms AlBader has claims against Bangor University for assault/battery, false imprisonment, and for violating her right to freedom of expression under Article 10 and right to physical and psychological integrity under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

A 20-page letter of claim has been sent to Bangor University detailing how Ms AlBader was forcibly removed from the stage by security guards when she tried to peacefully protest.

Background
At her graduation ceremony last year, Ms AlBader intended a peaceful protest: declining to shake the Vice Chancellor’s hand, handing him a leaflet about the university’s investments, and walking across the stage with a pillowcase bearing the message “Bangor University invests in Genocide.” However, instead of facilitating Ms AlBader’s non-disruptive and peaceful protest, around four university security officers forcibly dragged her from the stage before removing her from the building. She sustained physical injuries from the incident.

Our client was part of the movement on Bangor University’s campus to end the university’s continued investments in companies on the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions list. Her protest was intended to highlight the university’s financial ties to firms complicit in what the ICJ found in January 2024 is a plausible genocide in Gaza and the unlawful occupation of Palestine. To date the Israeli Defence Forces’ military campaign in Gaza has resulted in the deaths of an estimated over 59,000 Palestinians, countless more injuries, widespread devastation of civilian infrastructure, and verified reports of torture and deliberate starvation.

Ms AlBader’s engagement with this movement forms part of a long-standing tradition of student activism against human rights abuses worldwide, echoing the historic campaign against apartheid in South Africa.

Legal claims
Gold Jennings has been instructed by Ms AlBader to bring a civil claim for assault/battery, false imprisonment, and breach of her rights under Article 8 and 10 ECHR.

As things stand, we have sent a letter of claim to Bangor University and are awaiting the university’s Response.

Aishah AlBader says:
“As I walked up to graduate, I could only think of Gaza — of the students who will never get to graduate, whose lives, dreams, and hopes have been destroyed under Israel’s ongoing genocide. Tens of thousands have been killed, entire families wiped out, and schools and universities reduced to rubble. Knowing that Bangor University continues to invest in companies complicit in this devastation, I felt I could not simply accept my degree in silence. I knew I had to use that platform to centre those oppressed and dehumanised in Palestine. So, I held up a pillowcase reading ‘Bangor University invests in genocide.’ In response, I was dragged off stage, injured, and humiliated. I lost professional opportunities I had worked hard to earn and lived in fear and uncertainty of the future. My parents travelled thousands of miles to watch my graduation, and it should have been a moment of joy and pride. I don’t believe that holding a pillowcase should ever provoke violence and the pillowcase I held at my graduation revealed a truth that the university is desperate to hide. By bringing this case, I hope to affirm that no student should be punished for speaking out against injustices across the globe and in Palestine.”

Alexander Hogg of Gold Jennings says:
“Safeguarding freedom of expression and the right to protest requires upholding them not only when it is convenient but when it is uncomfortable – such as during graduation ceremonies, when principled students draw much needed public attention to universities’ unethical investments. Moreover, ensuring that universities are held to account when they violate students’ right to protest and free speech, such as in the case of my client, not only protects the right to protest and speak out against what is happening in Palestine, it protects the right to protest and speak out on all issues of public importance for everyone. My client has taken a brave and first step in holding Bangor University accountable for preventing her from exercising her right to freedom of speech.”

Ms AlBader is represented by Alexander Hogg, Solicitor, and Jessica Harrison, Trainee Solicitor at Gold Jennings – www.goldjennings.co.uk. Counsel for Ms AlBader is Azeem Suterwalla KC of Monkton Chambers. Ms AlBader is supported by the European Legal Support Centre.

A video of the incident, circulated on social media, can be viewed here.

Note to Editors
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