Pro-Palestinian student protesters dismantled their month-long camp on the ground floor of a London School of Economics (LSE) building.
The group set up camp at the Marshall Building in central London on May 14 – but were unable to lost a legal battle and was ordered to leave.
They held a demonstration before removing tents, signs and trash bags and exiting through the building’s windows at 3:30 pm (Brasília time), just 30 minutes before the deadline set out in the court order.
The university said it decided to seek the court order after “exhausting all other options.”
O group set up camp following the release of the Active in Apartheid report by the LSE Students’ Union Palestinian Society.
The report states that the LSE invested £89 million in 137 companies involved in the conflict in Gaza, fossil fuels, the weapons industry or the production of nuclear weapons.
Since then, dozens of students have stayed at the camp for more than a month and have vowed to remain there until LSE meets a series of demands, including divestment and democratization of the financial decision-making process.
The LSE previously said it would carefully consider the report and looked forward to a “peaceful dialogue”.
Annabelle, an LSE student who was among those who left the camp, told BBC News the demonstration was “energetic but peaceful”.
Ethan Chua, a spokesman for the protest group, said it was “incredibly shameful” that the university had taken them to court and decided to “criminalize them rather than engage with their substantive demands”.
An LSE spokesperson said: “[The interim possession order] was requested after careful consideration, including in relation to the safety of protesters. This decision was made after all other options were exhausted.”
They said fire safety was one of the reasons for requesting the order.
The protest group said negotiations continued with the university administration over their demands.
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