Three students being prosecuted over protests in Belfast against Hillary Clinton are to contest the charges, a court has heard.
Dennis Kuvaldins (22), Ethan Cunningham (20) and Seamus Wagner (18) appeared before magistrates in the city on charges connected to the scuffles outside Queen’s University.
Anti-war protests were staged on November 14 as Mrs Clinton, a former US presidential candidate, addressed a summit at the university where she is chancellor.
At the time the PSNI said a number of officers sustained injuries during scenes of public disorder.
Kulvaldins, of Cavendish Street in Belfast, is charged with assault on police, resisting police and obstructing police.
Cunningham, from Eglantine Avenue in the city, faces a single count of resisting police.
Their solicitor, Aidan Carlin, told the court they are both students who are due to sit university exams in the new year.
“I have instructions from them to contest the charges,” Mr Carlin confirmed.
Wagner, of Queen’s Elms on the Malone Road, is accused of obstructing police and resisting police.
His lawyer, Gavin Booth of Phoenix Law, 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.
“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 submitted.
Seeking to have the case against Wagner thrown out, Mr Booth argued that he could not have resisted or obstructed police if his initial detention was unlawful.
“He shouldn’t be before this court, he is a Queen’s University student who was simply protesting,” he added.
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 summit event was taking place.
As a constable chased and caught the other student, it was claimed that Wagner tried to free him from the officer’s grasp.
Others among the crowd were said to have been cheering and shouting “stand up and fight”.
The court ruled there was enough evidence to connect Wagner to the charges at this stage.
With a trial date set to be confirmed next month, all three defendants were released on continuing bail.