![\"Getty](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/ab16\/live\/814a2130-b89d-11ef-8f4f-f32c7e094699.jpg.webp\")
Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\nThree students being prosecuted over alleged incidents during protests against Hillary Clinton are to contest the charges, a court heard on Thursday.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
At the time police said a number of officers were injured during public disorder.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Charges<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\nMr Kulvaldins, of Cavendish Street in Belfast, is charged with assault on police, resisting police and obstructing police.<\/p>\n
Mr Cunningham, from Eglantine Avenue in the city, faces a single count of resisting police.<\/p>\n
Their solicitor told the court they were both due to sit university exams in the new year.<\/p>\n
“I have instructions from them to contest the charges,” he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Wagner, of Queen’s Elms on the Malone Road, is accused of obstructing police and resisting police.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Released on bail<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\nSeeking 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.<\/p>\n
“He shouldn’t be before this court, he is a Queen’s University student who was simply protesting,” he added.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
As a constable chased and caught the other student, it was claimed Mr Wagner tried to free him from the officer’s grasp.<\/p>\n
Others among the crowd were said to have been cheering and shouting “stand up and fight”.<\/p>\n
The court ruled there was enough evidence to connect Mr Wagner to the charges at this stage.<\/p>\n
All three defendants were released on continuing bail.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Mr Kulvaldins, of Cavendish Street in Belfast, is charged with assault on police, resisting police and obstructing police.<\/p>\n
Mr Cunningham, from Eglantine Avenue in the city, faces a single count of resisting police.<\/p>\n
Their solicitor told the court they were both due to sit university exams in the new year.<\/p>\n
“I have instructions from them to contest the charges,” he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Wagner, of Queen’s Elms on the Malone Road, is accused of obstructing police and resisting police.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Released on bail<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\nSeeking 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.<\/p>\n
“He shouldn’t be before this court, he is a Queen’s University student who was simply protesting,” he added.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
As a constable chased and caught the other student, it was claimed Mr Wagner tried to free him from the officer’s grasp.<\/p>\n
Others among the crowd were said to have been cheering and shouting “stand up and fight”.<\/p>\n
The court ruled there was enough evidence to connect Mr Wagner to the charges at this stage.<\/p>\n
All three defendants were released on continuing bail.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“He shouldn’t be before this court, he is a Queen’s University student who was simply protesting,” he added.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
As a constable chased and caught the other student, it was claimed Mr Wagner tried to free him from the officer’s grasp.<\/p>\n
Others among the crowd were said to have been cheering and shouting “stand up and fight”.<\/p>\n
The court ruled there was enough evidence to connect Mr Wagner to the charges at this stage.<\/p>\n
All three defendants were released on continuing bail.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n