Mansoura Criminal Court on Monday postponed the Mansoura University detainees’ case to Saturday 15 February, in order to allow remaining witnesses to testify.
Defence lawyer for three of the detained women, Tarek Al-Salakawy, said that the court heard on Sunday the testimony of Colonel Abdel Aziz Bassiouny, the leader of the force that stormed Mansoura University. Bassiouny, along with five police personnel, testified as witnesses for the prosecution. In addition to the women – Abrar Al-Anany, Menatalla Moustafa and Yousra Elkhateeb – 17 men were also involved in the case.
The women are being charged with belonging to a banned organisation, protesting against the state’s institutions, damaging public and private property and disturbing the peace.
The prosecution showed videos and based their case on Bassiouny’s testimony, who claimed that two arrest warrants had been issued for Yousra Elkhateeb, 21, for previously inciting clashes on campus.
The defence called for 14 witnesses to testify during next Saturday’s hearing.
“We showed videos proving that my clients were arrested from the fifth floor of the building of the Faculty of Pharmacy,” said Al-Salakawy, who described Bassiouny’s testimony as “imprecise”, saying it “does not prove that my clients belong to the Muslim Brotherhood.”
Last November several clashes in the Mansoura University campus erupted between Muslim Brotherhood supporters and their opponents, resulting in the injury of a number of students, damage of public and private property and interference of security forces upon the request of the university chairman.
The total number of detained Mansoura University students reached 66, according to the December statistic by the Student Observatory of the Association of Freedom of Thought and Expression.
