Dispute escalates at German university over defence cooperation rule

German police have cleared an occupied lecture hall at the University of Kassel, where students were protesting against a new rule that allows the school to cooperate with defence firms, reported dpa.

A total of 40 to 50 people had been inside the hall on Wednesday evening and refused to leave it overnight, a spokesman for Kassel police said on Thursday morning.

Police then moved in to carry out the protesters, some of whom put up "considerable resistance," slightly injuring six officers, police said.

Forty-seven people are under investigation for trespassing, while criminal charges have been brought against three individuals for assaulting law enforcement officers, according to the police.

It comes after the university on Wednesday changed its so-called civil clause. Previously, the rule had required research, teaching and development to be directed exclusively towards civilian purposes and peaceful objectives.

A student initiative campaigning to retain the clause in its existing form accused the university of having bowed to pressure from the defence industry and betraying the trust of students and staff by changing the rule.

A university spokesman said on Wednesday that the new wording of the clause would "clarify the university’s commitment to peace."

The aim was to ensure that research, teaching and knowledge transfer at the university serve peaceful purposes, while the change also "addresses in detail once again the difficulty of distinguishing between civilian and military purposes within this research institution," he said.

A crowd of people remained outside the cleared lecture hall on Thursday morning, a police spokesman said, adding that officers remained at the scene to prevent people from entering again.