CAIRO: Over 1,000 students demonstrated at Cairo University Monday demanding the release of eight university professors who will hear the verdict of their military tribunals today.
The professors, who are all members of the Muslim Brotherhood, are among 40 charged with belonging to a forbidden organization, alleged money-laundering and terrorism.
In a trail of multi-colored hijabs, students began their demonstration by marching through the university in single sex lines holding banners displaying pictures of their absent professors. They made their way to the dome, where they were met by professors who spoke in support of their colleagues.
“I am a member of the Ikhwan, but I am here as a teacher, said Medhat Aasar, professor of surgery at Cairo University. “We live in a country where there is no reform, vast corruption and bribery.
When asked why these professors in particular were arrested, Aasar told Daily News Egypt, “You cannot predict who they will arrest, they were completely random. First it was this group, maybe next time it will be me.
“My colleague Mahmoud Ahmed Abu Zeid is one of those arrested. He is a cardiovascular surgeon at the Kasr Al-Aini university hospital. He was also chosen to represent the university on the board for educational development. This goes to show the government has no interest in education.
Another of the arrested professors who received considerable attention was Dr Osama Hashish, professor of engineering and communications.
“Dr Osama Hashish is the only professor qualified to teach his module, and students held a ‘lectures strike’ for a month following his arrest because they are so fond of him, said Mahmoud Qotb, the head Brotherhood spokesperson at Cairo University.
In between the speeches students chanted slogans including “They called for freedom so they turned them over to a military court.
“We’re demonstrating to show our anger with the system’s hypocrisy, “Somaya Mahdy, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and one of the organizers of the demonstration told Daily News Egypt. “How can they try professors, who have done nothing wrong, in a military court when they try Israeli spies in a civilian court?
“They were tried four times in a civilian court and found innocent before they were moved to a military court, proving they are not guilty.
On Sunday, at least 2,000 students marched inside the campus of Ain Shams University chanting anti-government slogans and condemning the trial.
South of the capital, over 500 students held a rally inside Al-Azhar University in Assiut. The protesters also shouted slogans criticizing the government for politicizing the Brotherhood trial.
Riot police had cordoned off the protesters, keeping them inside the two universities’ campuses, preventing them from taking to the streets.
