Presseerklärung zu dem Prozess des AStA der Goethe Universität Frankfurt | Press release on the trial of the AStA of the Goethe University Frankfurt
The AStA of the University of Siegen declares its solidarity with the AStA of the Goethe University Frankfurt because of the lawsuit the AStA is conducting.
The presidium of the university in Frankfurt has repeatedly forbidden the AStA from expressing itself on political issues, which of course had to do with the student body.
General political statements can also be justified, universities and therefore students are part of society and therefore student representatives must also be able to express themselves on social issues. Political issues can often only be understood in terms of society as a whole and therefore cannot be separated into university policy and general policy. Furthermore, the political mandate of the student body does not begin when entering the university campus and therefore does not end when leaving it. This is precisely what is regulated in the Hessian Higher Education Act under § 77 (2) 5. as follows: The student body has the following tasks: […] to promote political education and the students’ sense of civic responsibility […].
Therefore, just like the AStA of Goethe University and the “freie zusammenschluss von student*innenschaften” (fzs) (free merger of students), we see no justification for such a procedure on the part of the university presidium and wish the AStA Frankfurt every success in the process.
Greetings in solidarity,
The AStA of the University of Siegen