Students in Al-Azahr have been protesting demanding the opening of the dormitories, and against the arrest of fellow students. (Photo from Students Against the Coup)
Troops from the Central Security Forces and the military police on surrounded the perimeter of the Faculty of Science in Alexandria University on Saturday, after students clashed with campus security, according to the Students Against the Coup (SAC) movement.
The students were planning a partial strike on Saturday morning in protest of the expulsion of 12 students from the university for three years, on charges of “rioting on campus”, state media reported.
Security forces spread outside the gates of the university to prevent the students from protesting outside the campus.
Protests also took place at Helwan University, Al-Azhar University, and Al-Azhar University branch in Daqahleya.
Scores of students have recently been suspended or permanently expelled from universities for participating in anti-government protests.
Last week, at least 23 students were been expelled from Al-Azhar University for their alleged implication in acts of on-campus violence.
The administration also sent 61 students to investigation over similar charges.
Students in Al-Alzahr have been protesting demanding the opening of the dormitories, and against the arrest of fellow students.
SAC, a student organisation opposing the current regime, promised last week a new wave of protests will start against security forces until students regain their “dignity and respect”.
Egypt’s prosecution referred on Sunday five Al-Azhar University students to a military court on charges of attacking a vital state institution, after the Cairo Criminal Court announced that it lacks sufficient jurisdiction to rule in the case.
The defendants were arrested at the beginning of the year, and were charged with joining a “terrorist group” as well as setting fire to a room in the engineering faculty of Al-Azhar University, possession of Molotov cocktails, and rioting.
The referral of the students to a military court is the first application of the controversial decree issued by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi in late October, which says that those accused of crimes against the state’s “vital” state institutions may be subject to military prosecution.
The law was issued after Al-Sisi’s consultations with the National Defence Council, following two deadly attacks in Sinai that left at least 30 military personnel dead. Human Rights Watch Middle East and North Africa director Sarah Leah Whitson said on Monday that the law’s “absurdly broad provisions mean that many more civilians who engage in protests can now expect to face trial before uniformed judges, subject to the orders of their military superiors.”
Students protest at Al-Azhar University on Sunday (Photo from Students Against Coup)
The Egyptian Revolutionary Council, a political organisation active in Switzerland and Turkey, announced its support for a new campaign called Tadamon Solidarity Group with Egyptian Students.
The council’s support comes on the eve of the annual International Students’ Day, which is 17 November.
The Tadamon group was launched after the beginning of the new academic year on 11 October to protest alleged violations and assaults on students. It called upon national and international student unions “to support the legitimate demands of Egyptian students”, according to a statement by the group.
The group also demanded that “the international community maintain pressure and show solidarity to stop violation on students and to stop police presence on campus, as well as the release of all detainees”.
Citing different violations against students during this academic term and in the last year, the group said: “While other students in the world are receiving education, Egyptian universities are being transformed into military units with the security forces storming campuses on different occasions.”
The group also claimed that “university administrations expelled more than 638 students, while 2,186 were arrested, with three receiving death sentences” over the past year.
Meanwhile, Students Against Coup (SAC), a group formed to oppose the current regime after the ouster of Mohamed Morsi, staged a number of protests Sunday. These came in anticipation of other demonstrations planned for 17 November to mark International Students’ Day.
Protests took place at the universities of Helwan, Al-Azhar, 6th of October, Zagazig, Mansoura, and Beni Suef.
SAC spokesperson Hafsa Al-Farouk told Daily News Egypt that protests will continue until “the siege by security forces around the university campuses is broken”.
The group will stage more protests during the International Students’ Day to attract the attention of the international committee to the “violations happening to students in Egypt”, Al-Farouk said.
The group is a strong opponent of the current government and the military, which it refers to as the “coup government”. It called upon students to refuse military service until the army “returns to its barracks and abandons politics”.
Students protest at Al- Azhar University on Wednesday. (Photo from Student Against Coup)
At least 23 students were expelled from Al-Azhar University on Tuesday for their alleged implication in acts of on-campus violence, according to the university’s media centre.
The administration also suspended another 61 students, referring them to investigation over similar charges.
Students in Al-Azhah have been protesting against the closure of the dormitories and against the arrests of fellow students.
Demonstrations and clashes with security forces have occurred on university campuses across the country on numerous occasions since the beginning of the new academic year on 11 October. The first week of classes alone witnessed some 58 student protests against the heavy presence of police forces on campuses and the arrest and suspension of students.
The crackdown on protests appears to have intensified this week. In Fayoum University, 11 students were suspended and banned from entering the campus on Wednesday. The administration also banned 112 students from registering in the dormitories.
Four students from Alexandria University’s faculty of agriculture were also expelled on Wednesday for “protesting on campus and obstructing the educational process”, according to the Students Against Coup (ACA) movement.
The group added that students in Bani Suef University’s faculty of veterinary medicine have began a strike to protest the suspension of four colleagues accused of “organising protests, storming campus gates, and chanting against the army and the police”. The students said they would not attend classes until the expelled students are allowed back on campus.
Cairo University’s Chairman Gaber Nassar suspended one assistant professor for participating in “Muslim Brotherhood protests” on Tuesday, according to state media.
On the same day, Al Marsad Student Observatory reported that the Kafr El-Sheikh University referred 10 students to investigation for “insulting leading figures in the country”.
On Monday police forces stormed Al-Alzhar Girls University with armoured vehicles to disperse a protest. Two female students were reported to have sustained critical injuries. Also on Monday, the General Prosecutor sent three Al-Azhar students to the Emergency Criminal Court for inciting violence, participating in protests, and “plotting against the regime”.
SAC, a student organisation opposing the current regime, promised on Sunday that a new wave of protests will start against security forces until students regain their “dignity and respect”.
The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE), a rights group, said that expulsions of students constitute “violations by the university’s administration”, in a report published Saturday.
Since the start of the academic year on 11 October more than 200 students have been arrested, according to AFTE.
Two female students were assaulted by police forces, and sustained critical injuries (Photo from Student Against Coup)
One student was arrested Monday afternoon after being suspected of setting fire to a garden in the Faculty of Science in Al-Azhar University, said the Ministry of Interior.
One female student and another five school students were also arrested after being captured throwing a bag with fireworks and money over the campus fence, the ministry said in a Monday statement.
Hafsa Al Farouk, spokesperson of Students Against Coup (SAC) movement, said that police forces stormed into Al-Alzhar Girls University to disperse a protest with armoured vehicles. Farouk said that two female students who were not taking part in the protests were assaulted by police forces, and sustained critical injuries.
“The first suffered a vaginal bleeding and was rushed into a hospital. The second was hit in the eye,” Al Farouk said. She added that over the past two weeks “police forces have been staging random arrests of anyone they are suspicious of. On Monday six female students were arrested outside the gates of the university.”
Also protests took place at Mansoura University, the Al-Azhar branch in Daqahleya, and in the private University of Sadat. In Minya, police forces fired tear gas and stormed the campus.
SAC, a student organisation opposing the current regime, promised Sunday a new wave of protests will start against security forces until students regain their “dignity and respect”.
Since the start of the academic year on 11 October, student protests have been taking place against the presence of police forces at campuses and the arrest and suspension of fellow students.
Students in several university campuses across Egypt staged demonstrations on Sunday in a new wave of protests.
In Beni Suef, police forces fired tear gas and birdshot, after campus security attacked a student protest. (Photo from Student Against Coup)
The Students Against Coup (SAC) group promised to carry out the demonstrations in response to continued “arrests and kidnappings of female students, suspension of fellow students, and the siege of university campuses”.
SAC, a student organisation opposing the current regime, said in a Sunday statement that protests will continue against security forces until students regain dignity and respect.
Protests took place at Cairo University, Al-Azhar, and in the universities of Assiut, Zagazig, and Mansoura. In Beni Suef, police forces fired tear gas and birdshot, after campus security attacked a student protest.
The group said the administration at Fayoum University approved the expulsion of 24 female students, also depriving them of the right to stay in dorms for the semester, over unclear charges.
The Ministry of Interior said that one student was arrested for not showing his identification card to campus security.
The group said that two students were killed Friday in Fayoum and Ain Shams in clashes between police and pro-Morsi protests.
The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) issued its weekly report documenting violations against students of last week.
“Violations were done by security forces, campus security and private security company’s personnel,” the report said. AFTE added that other “administrative violations” also were reported and included disciplinary measures where students faced expulsion by the university.
“In the University of Alexandria, police forces stormed into campus after clashes broke between members of the Student SAC group and students supporting President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi,” AFTE said.
At Zagazig University, AFTE added, police forces fired tear gas at students after they clashed with Falcon personnel.
The report also mentions violations by security campus against students, where guards in Cairo University turn a student to the police after he refused to have his bag searched for the second time. At Zagazig University, an exhibition by a student activity in solidarity with Al-Aqsa Mosque was attacked and two students were sent to a disciplinary committee for investigation.
Riot police has been present outside a number of universities in anticipation of demonstrations.
On 14 October, in Alexandria University student Omar Al-Sharif died from birdshots fired by the police during the clashes between students and riot police, sparking a wave of condemnation.
Since the start of the academic year on 11 October more than 200 students have been arrested, according to AFTE.
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International previously demanded the Egyptian authorities release university students arrested.
Last month, a bomb exploded in the vicinity of Cairo University, injuring six policemen and four civilians.
Students protest at Ain Shams University on Sunday. (Photo from SAC)
Gihad Sultan, spokesperson of the Student Against Coup movement, said that masked security personnel stormed the Ain Shams University campus and fired birdshot, injuring a number of students.
The group released a statement Sunday vowing a new week of protests against the mass suspension of students from universities across the country, due to their political activities.
Sultan said that Ain Shams University students staged a demonstration Sunday morning in solidarity with the “forced migration of Sinai residents that is taking place by the army and the current government”.
“Police forces responded with storming the gates and arresting students randomly,” Sultan said. “So far, five arrests were confirmed.”
“Units of Special Forces have been surrounding the campus since the beginning of the day. We totally refuse and condemn such presence of police,” he added. “The government is now pointing its guns and ammunition towards the students.”
Similar protests took place at the universities of Cairo, Al-Azhar, and Beni Suef, where students chanted against the arrests of colleagues.
The SAC branch in Beni Suef University distributed flyers condemning the disappearance of two female students in the vicinity of the campus last Thursday.
At Helwan University, students staged a silent protest expressing their condemnation of what they called “military rule”.
The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) issued a weekly report Saturday, documenting violations in university campuses.
“Violations continue as police continue to storm universities, students are being suspended for participating in protests as well as arrested in dawn-raids”, the organisation said. “Police used force in dispersing student protests in more than four universities. Also, campus security was reported to have assaulted students.”
Last week, the Ministry of Interior announced that 43 students were arrested, while possessing a great amount of fireworks and a number of small explosive devices.
However, a student from Cairo University who preferred to be anonyms, said that students usually do not possess any explosive materials, and that they use only fireworks to distract police forces.
Students protest at Al-Azhar University on Sunday. (Photo from SAC)
Students Against the Coup (SAC) movement held protests in different university campuses on Sunday condemning “targeting students”, in a new week of demonstrations dubbed “The Right of the Martyr”.
Protests took place in universities in Menufiya, Beni Suef, Al-Azhar, Port Said, Ain Shams, Minya, as well as Al-Azhar University branches in Damietta and Zagazig, amid a heavy security presence.
“Although the government is spending millions to turn university campuses into military barracks, and engineering a massive campaign to arrest students, our protests having been gaining more momentum since the first day of school,” said SAC in a Sunday statement.
SAC added that throughout the last two weeks, students have been defying security forces and campus security – including personnel of privately owned security company Falcon.
The group denounced the heavy presence of riot police on campus and held the police responsible for the death of Alexandria University student Omar Al-Sherif, who died on 21 October from head injuries.
Al-Sherif hit by birdshots after riot police stormed into the Alexandria University campus to disperse protests.
Since the beginning of the academic year two weeks ago, university campuses have witnessed clashes between students and security personnel.
The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) released a report Saturday documenting violations in campuses.
The report said that police stormed nine universities, killing one student, what brought the total count of student deaths on campus to 17 since the last academic year.
“Violations continue as a total of 230 students were arrested since the beginning of school on 11 October,” said AFTE.
On Wednesday afternoon, a bomb exploded in the vicinity of Cairo University, injuring six policemen and four civilians.
A bomb exploded in the vicinity of Cairo University on Wednesday afternoon, injuring six policemen and four civilians. (AFP File Photo)
A bomb exploded in the vicinity of Cairo University on Wednesday afternoon, injuring six policemen and four civilians, according to the Ministry of Interior.
The incident comes after protests have spread across university campuses, reacting to new security measures, student arrests, and the deployment of riot police and private security personnel.
The ministry added that police forces arrested 12 students who are allegedly members of the Muslim Brotherhood from the universities of Al-Azhar, Ain Shams, and Helwan, charging them with protesting and attacking campus security.
Youssef Al-Adawi, a student in Cairo University, told Daily News Egypt that campus security evacuated the university fearing the existence of other bombs.
Youssef Salheen, spokesperson of Students Against Coup (SAC), condemned the bombing and denied that the group had any involvement in the explosion.
Hasan Farid, spokesperson of SAC movement branch in Cairo University, said that students blocked roads leading to Giza square on Wednesday morning as they protested outside campus the death of a student in Alexandria University, clashing with police.
Farid added that “protesting outside the perimeter of campus is a message to security forces that students broke the police siege.”
At Helwan University, students staged silent protests condemning dawn arrests of fellow students.
In Mansoura University, SAC students cancelled their protests as they received threats of a harsh crackdown if protests are to take place. Mansoura University president Mohamed Al Kenawy released a statement on Wednesday warning students of joining protests led by SAC students, adding that “they [SAC students] will be treated as thugs”.
Police stormed Kafr Al-Sheikh University and fired tear gas at students protesting the arrest of their colleagues.
Riot police has been present outside a number of universities in anticipation of demonstrations.
On Tuesday Alexandria University student Omar Al-Sharif died from birdshots fired by the police during the clashes between students and riot police on 14 October, sparking a wave of condemnation.
The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms condemned the death of Al-Sharif, demanding police forces to restrain themselves when using force to disperse students.
Alexandria University student Omar Al-Sharif succumbed Tuesday to injuries caused by birdshot to the head, which he sustained during clashes between students and riot police on 14 October.
The office of Head of the Ambulance Authority’s office Ahmed Al-Ansary said that after his injury, Al-Sharif was moved to Al-Miri hospital and that Al-Sharif’s body was transported to the morgue Tuesday morning.
Lawyer Mohamed Ramadan, who was handling Al-Sharif’s case, said he received the news from the deceased’s mother.
Ramadan said Al-Sharif was shot by birdshot fired by the police. The damage caused to Al-Sharif by the birdshot included a brain haemorrhage. He added, however, “that 16 students were arrested and accused of attempting to murder him”.
Ramadan filed a complaint, which included a picture showing that Al-Sharif was shot by a policeman.
Head of Alexandria University Osama Ibrahim decided on Monday to expel 5 students after they had been investigated for taking part in the protests that have taken place since the start of the academic year on 11 October, according to state-owned Al-Ahram.
The protests have continued intermittently over the past week, resulting in students and security, both state and private, clashing in and around campuses across the country.
Ibrahim also added in a press conference on Monday that 11 other students were being investigated for protesting inside campus without permission.
University campuses across the nation have witnessed violent clashes since the start of this academic year. It was due to begin in September but was postponed in a government decision.
According to Democracy Index, in the first week of the year 18 universities witnessed 58 protests, with an average of 10 protests per day. Clashes resulted in the arrests of at least 163 students.
Over the past academic year, at least 16 students were killed inside their campuses and hundreds were arrested, according to Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression.
This year, private security company Falcon was hired by the government to secure eight universities but students have violently clashed with them last week, forcing them to flee several university campuses.
