The attempt by Zagazig University’s administrative security to disperse an on-campus Students Against the Coup (SAC) protest on Sunday involved the use of police dogs and batons.
Six students were arrested and referred to the Second Zagazig Police Station in the governorate of Sharqeya, reported state-run Al-Ahram.
The pro-Mohamed Morsi SAC movement organised a protest to condemn the arrest of a movement member who was captured for distributing flyers against the army and the police, said Zagazig University student Salma Samy.
Samy, who works with the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression’s (AFTE) Student Observatory, added that administrative security, aided by students armed with bladed weapons and sticks, attacked the protest. She claimed that the use of police dogs caused several injuries.
Six administrative security personnel were allegedly wounded as a result of the clashes, reported Al-Ahram. The protesting students reportedly attempted to break into the university administration’s building.
Meanwhile in Cairo University, two Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were found and defused on Sunday, reported state-run news agency MENA. The IEDs were reportedly found in the vicinity of the Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences, shortly before student protests were scheduled to begin.
The SAC movement organised nationwide protests in universities on Wednesday to condemn the arrest of students and the harsh verdicts that some of them had been served. The protests soon escalated to clashes with security forces, leaving two students killed and prompting Cairo University to expel 23 students allegedly involved in the clashes.
A university statement released on Friday said that the public prosecution visited the site of the clashes and inspected the losses. Upon screening the university, the prosecution reportedly discovered three homemade bombs, one of which went off at the Faculty of Law while the other two were defused.
Wednesday’s clashes were the first to take place since the second academic term started on 8 March. The Supreme Council of Universities signed in February a protocol with the Ministry of Interior to secure university campuses, authorising security forces to be present outside universities and only interfere on campuses with the permission of university chairmen.
On 24 February, the Cairo Urgent Matters Court restored an earlier decision appointing security personnel from the Ministry of Interior to secure university campuses.
Until 2010, the Ministry of Interior was responsible for providing Homeland Security personnel to secure universities. In 2010, the Supreme Administrative Court banned this decision, establishing “administrative” university security. The decision came into effect after the January 2011 uprising.
