(Photo by Mohamed Omar\File)
The Students Against the Coup (SAC) group threatened more protests in the next academic year across several government universities in Egypt, despite ramped up security measures inside the campuses.
SAC released a statement Wednesday morning on their official Facebook page celebrating one year since its foundation and highlighting their response to the recent security measures upgrade inside university campuses.
This comes in the wake of new security measures, being considered for implementation in Egypt’s most populous universities, including banning all politically affiliated movements.
President of Cairo University Gaber Nassar said in a TV show Tuesday that the university partnered with a security company to provide security dogs and devices to detect bombs inside the university. Nassar also claimed that the university is currently fortifying the campus borders with huge tin plates, to prevent the campus from being damaged.
SAC said the Ministry of Higher Education attempts to crackdown on the students activities through postponing the academic year, will fail just like it did before. In preparation for the upcoming academic year, the group called on their fellow revolutionary students, to go back to the fields under the chant of “Jihad for either victory or martyrdom”.
The academic year was set to start on 27 September but was postponed to 11 October. Interior ministry spokesman Hany Abdel Latif said: “The postponement of the 2015 academic year has nothing to do with the security situation.”
“Our forces are ready to secure borders of all campuses in collaboration with universities deans and interferer whenever someone breaks the law,” he said.
Abdel Latif added that there is no intention for retaining the security guards on the campuses gates during the upcoming academic year.
SAC was formed in September 2013 inside major public universities such as Cairo, Al-Azhar, Helwan, Ain Shams, Al-Mansoura, and Al-Minya universities, two months after the Muslim Brotherhood regime was toppled in July 2013.
The group’s latest statement condemned the security officials’ attacks against its peaceful protests during the past academic year, pledging to keep fighting for the rights of their detained and killed counterparts.
Muhammed Saad, vice dean of the Faculty of Economics and Political Science Students Union at Cairo University said: “Those decisions lack rationalism, not every political group on campus is involved in violent actions against the police.”
He also claimed that such decisions are only made to be oppressing all forms of expression inside the campus. They are also implemented in a random way, as he referred to the detention of 97 of the faculty’s students, including 3 girls, without clear accusations.
Cairo University along with other campuses have seen heavy violence in the past academic year, as they witnessed bloody clashes between students and security forces.
Mohamed Reda, an engineering student at Cairo University was shot dead in a protest on campus, which triggered students groups to organise regular protests, twice a week, leading to more intensive clashes.
Article 47 in Egypt’s constitution says every person is free to express his or her sentiments peacefully whether it is by words or speech, photos or other forms.
At Ain Shams University, which similarly faced huge turmoil over the past academic year, students are expected to sign consent not to participate in political activity inside the campus according to the university vice dean latest press statements
