EGYPTIAN SECURITY RAID UNIVERSITIES AND ARREST DOZENS OF STUDENTS

Cairo, 28 Dhulhijja 1435/22 October 2014 (MINA) – Most Egyptian universities have witnessed mass protests against the unprecedented security measures taken by private security companies, at a time when Egyptian security forces proceeded to raid six universities and clashed with the students on campus, arresting dozens.

The security forces tried to control the demonstrations organised by Students Against the Coup, which opposes the current authorities demanding the release of all the detainees. The security forces stormed the campuses of Al-Azhar University in Nasr City, east of Cairo, Ain Shams University, Mansoura University, Minia University, and Beni-Suef University.

At the Suez Canal University, Students Against the Coup said that the administrative security forces detained four female students while they partook in a march on campus. They were taken in a car to the campus security headquarters inside the university, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) quoted by , Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Clashes also broke out between the students and security forces in most of the universities and the security forces fired tear gas to disperse the students in some universities. The interior ministry announced that it had arrested 29 students.

The students have formed long queues in front of the gates of the universities during the second week of the semester because of the tightened security measures imposed by a new private security company that is guarding the universities.

Falcon, the private security company managed by retired police officers and soldiers and led by Khalid Sharif former deputy director of the Egyptian intelligence services and former head of the Egyptian Radio and Television Union security departments, were tasked with guarding university entrances at the beginning of the academic year.

Students Against the Coup spokesman Ahmed Nassef said that they would be “launching a revolutionary week in all the universities to stress that the student movement is going strong and cannot be supressed. We will also stress that the arrests of over 235 students will not discourage others from their demonstrations.”

In Cairo University, the students staged a massive march in an effort to continue their revolutionary movement which rejects the oppression and repression of freedoms and the military rule.

The students loudly voiced their slogans against the military rule and expressed their rejection of the arrest of students and their demands to put an end to violations against Egyptian students, release the detainees, retribution for the blood of the martyrs, the restoration of the democratic path, and the prosecution of anyone involved in shedding the blood of the Egyptians.

The students also stressed that the policies of tyranny and oppression adopted by the coup-led authorities against the Egyptian students will only make them more determined to continue their revolutionary path until freedom, victory and human dignity are realised.

Security forces also stormed Al-Azhar Girls University in Cairo, looking for students who participated in various events held by all the faculties at the university.

Eye-witnesses confirmed that a number of students were injured after the security forces forcefully stored the university and its forces were deployed within the university, continuing the wave of violations and systematic repression adopted by these forces against Al-Azhar students.

The female students of Al-Azhar University in Cairo have organised a number of events in all the faculties in order to continue their revolutionary movement that rejects the military rule. In these events, the students have stressed that they will continue their revolutionary movement until freedom is returned, those involved in the violations against Egyptian students are prosecuted, retribution for the blood of the martyrs is achieved, and all the detainees are released.

The students of Egypt are demanding that their fellow colleagues are released from prison and that those expelled can return to continue their studies. They are also calling for the release of the security grip on universities, the over throw of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s government, and the return of legitimacy represented by President Mohamed Morsi.  (T/R04/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)