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Monday, 7 February, 2000, 21:34 GMT
Mexico strike students charged
Mexican prosecutors plan to bring charges against about 900 people involved in a nine-month strike at Latin America's biggest university. More than 600 students were detained at the weekend when police stormed the university to end the strike. The remaining charges relate to people arrested last week during violent protests. Students, who led the strike at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, in Mexico City, face a series of charges including illegal occupation and terrorism. Hundreds of people have joined protest marches calling for the arrested students to be released. Unarmed police broke through a barricade at the university to end the strike, arresting 632 students. Interior Secretary Diodoro Carrasco said: "A democratic society cannot allow the kidnapping of the national university." The strike, and occupation of the university grounds, disrupted the classes for more than 250,000 students. The stoppage, originally called over a large increase in tuition fees, polarised the students, with some backing the university authorities in calling for an end to the strike. A BBC correspondent in Mexico City says the decision to press charges will make reconciliation difficult. |
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