University of Queensland student Drew Pavlou’s China contempt threat

Student activist may face criminal prosecution over his handling of University of Queensland documents.

University of Queensland student Drew Pavlou protests the front of the university’s Forgan Smith Building yesterday. Picture: Richard Walker

A student activist facing expulsion from the University of Queensland is being threatened with criminal prosecution over his handling of documents relating to the institution’s public response to anti-Beijing protests on campus.

Drew Pavlou faces a disciplinary hearing on Wednesday following his protests and social media posts criticising UQ’s ties with Chinese government institutions and of the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s record on human rights.

The 20-year-old philosophy student, who organised a campus protest last July in support of Hong Kong’s independence movement, received a letter from UQ lawyers last week accusing him of contempt of court over his intended use of internal emails in his defence at the disciplinary hearing. The emails are understood to have been provided by UQ under subpoena, brought by Mr Pavlou, in a separate court action he took against China’s consul-general in Brisbane, Xu Jie, after the diplomat issued a statement condemning the protests as “anti-China separatist activities”.

An elected student member of the UQ senate, Mr Pavlou sought an apology and retraction in Brisbane Magistrates Court from Dr Xu — appointed an adjunct professor by UQ last year — claiming the comments incited death threats against him.

In an interview with The Australian, Mr Pavlou confirmed that his lawyers had received a letter from legal firm Clayton Utz, acting for UQ, threatening to commence proceedings for contempt of court.

It is alleged that Mr Pavlou signed an undertaking not to use any document gleaned in the Magistrates Court action for any other purpose.

Brisbane barrister and freedom of speech advocate Tony Morris. Picture: Glenn Hunt

Mr Pavlou accused UQ of ¬attempting to “intimidate me” ahead of his disciplinary hearing.

“Clayton Utz have sent me this letter threatening to initiate contempt of court proceedings and prosecute me, which carries a penalty of three years’ imprisonment,’’ he said.

“It relates to information I have from UQ in their response to my pro-Hong Kong protests.”

UQ has refused to comment on the disciplinary hearings or specifically the content of emails that Mr Pavlou says he intends to use in his fight to avoid expulsion from the campus, where he has studied for three years.

In a statement, a UQ spokeswoman said the legal letter to Mr Pavlou “does not relate to any student disciplinary matters’’.

“It relates to documents produced for court proceedings brought by Mr Pavlou, to which UQ is not a party,’’ the statement said.

“Under a court order, and with Mr Pavlou’s agreement, UQ produced the documents on the basis that certain confidentiality restrictions would apply to the documents, including to protect students named in the documents.’’

Mr Pavlou faces 11 allegations at the disciplinary hearing.

He will be represented pro bono by Brisbane barrister and freedom of speech advocate Tony Morris QC.

In a 56-page submission to the UQ disciplinary panel, on behalf of Mr Pavlou, Mr Morris alleged that UQ had put its ties with China ahead of the rights of a student to protest.

In the submission, Mr Morris cited the existence of UQ’s Confucius Institute — a Beijing-funded “education” centre often accused of being propaganda units — the Chinese government funding of four courses and the high number of Chinese students attending the university.

Previously, UQ has denied that it took disciplinary action against Mr Pavlou because of his protests.

“The university rejects Mr Pavlou’s statement that the university’s process is an attempt to penalise him for airing his political beliefs,” a spokesman said last month.

“Universities reasonably expect that students comply with conduct policies and charters that reflect both the organisation’s values and community expectations.

“UQ’s disciplinary processes seek to address alleged contraventions of university policy — they do not seek to prevent students from expressing their views or to limit their right to freedom of speech,” the spokesman said.

The July protests on UQ campus turned violent, with clashes between pro-Hong Kong and pro-Beijing students.

Dr Xu’s subsequent statement praised the “spontaneous patriotic behaviour” of Chinese students, describing the pro-Hong Kong protesters as “anti-China separatists’’.

It led to Foreign Minister Marise Payne calling on foreign diplomats to avoid “encouraging disruptive of potentially violent behaviour’’.

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