Three students to contest charges over Clinton protests

Three students being prosecuted over alleged incidents during protests against Hillary Clinton are to contest the charges, a court heard on Thursday.

Dennis Kuvaldins, 22, Ethan Cunningham, 20, and 18-year-old Seamus Wagner appeared before magistrates in Belfast on charges connected to scuffles outside Queen's University in the south of the city.

Pro-Palestinian protests were staged on 14 November as Mrs Clinton, a former US presidential candidate and secretary of state, addressed a summit at the university, where she is chancellor.

At the time police said a number of officers were injured during public disorder.

Mr Kulvaldins, of Cavendish Street in Belfast, is charged with assault on police, resisting police and obstructing police.

Mr Cunningham, from Eglantine Avenue in the city, faces a single count of resisting police.

Their solicitor told the court they were both due to sit university exams in the new year.

"I have instructions from them to contest the charges," he said.

Mr Wagner, of Queen's Elms on the Malone Road, is accused of obstructing police and resisting police.

His lawyer claimed he had been wrongly charged because separate allegations of having trespassed into a cordoned-off area at the scene of the demonstration were dropped.

"What he had planned to do that day with his fellow protestors was unveil a Palestinian flag to protest against the ongoing genocide in Gaza," the solicitor said.

Seeking to have the case against Mr Wagner thrown out, his solicitor argued he could not have resisted or obstructed police if his initial detention was unlawful.

"He shouldn't be before this court, he is a Queen's University student who was simply protesting," he added.

But according to police, officers had been attempting to manage barriers erected at the scene when a co-accused allegedly ran towards Whitla Hall where the event involving Mrs Clinton was taking place.

As a constable chased and caught the other student, it was claimed Mr Wagner tried to free him from the officer's grasp.

Others among the crowd were said to have been cheering and shouting "stand up and fight".

The court ruled there was enough evidence to connect Mr Wagner to the charges at this stage.

All three defendants were released on continuing bail.