University Appeals Committee Accepts Adalah's Appeal Against Student's Suspension

24/03/2003

Today, the Appeals Committee of Bar Ilan University accepted an appeal filed by Adalah on 2 March 2003 against the decision of Safed College to temporarily suspend Ms. Yassera Bakri, an Arab citizen of Israel and a student at the college. In accepting the appeal, the Appeals Committee effectively cancelled the suspension ordered by Safed College's Disciplinary Committee on 11 February 2003. Administrative practices at Safed College are governed by the disciplinary code of Bar Ilan University.

In its decision, the Appeals Committee agreed with Adalah's argument that the Safed College Disciplinary Committee failed to prove that Ms. Bakri had violated the disciplinary code. The Disciplinary Committee based its decision to suspend Ms. Bakri on the grounds that she had been indicted for failing to prevent a crime, in violation of Article 262 of the Penal Code (1977), in connection with a bus bombing in August 2002 in which she got off a bus shortly before it was blown up by a suicide bomber. The decision to suspend Ms. Bakri was also based on the claim that allowing her to study at Safed College would lead to public disorder.

In today's decision, the Appeals Committee ruled that the fact that an indictment was filed against her does not prove that Ms. Bakri violated the disciplinary code. Further, the Appeals Committee noted that the Disciplinary Committee did not cite any other evidence that Ms. Bakri had violated the disciplinary code.

The Appeals Committee also ruled that public disorder resulting from the presence of a student on campus does not mean that the student in question violated the disciplinary code. There is no article in the disciplinary code relating to such a situation, the Appeals Committee noted.